The Brunswick Downtown Association is one of 10 semi-finalists for the 2018 Great American Main Street Award by Main Street America.

Main Street America is a program of the National Main Street Center, which revitalizes older and historic commercial districts to build vibrant neighborhoods and thriving economies.

Each year, the National Main Street Center recognizes exceptional Main Street communities whose successes serve as a model for comprehensive, preservation based commercial district revitalization with the Great American Main Street Award. Since 1995, more than 90 Main Street programs have been honored.

Brunswick has been a Main Street community since 2012, a time that the downtown was relatively robust, but had a 5-10 percent vacancy rate, according to Deb King, BDA director.

King recalled that the closure of the nearby Brunswick Naval Air Station and the loss of 5,000 people as a result “had a real impact on the community.” That closure occurred on the heals of an economic recession.

“I think there was some real anxiety,” King said in an interview with The Times Record. “We felt we had to be that beacon of hope.”

Today, it’s a different story as storefronts are full — King cited the recent Maine Street additions of Portland Pie Company and Fiore Artisan Olive Oils & Vinegars. The downtown is also the terminus for Amtrak’s Downeaster rail service and, most recently, Portland’s METRO Breez bus service.

“People are interested in investing in downtown Brunswick, but we don’t have any space available,” King said. “When something does come on the market, it gets grabbed up really quickly.”

According to the BDA, Great American Main Street Award winners represent the diversity of communities in the Main Street America network—small towns, mid-sized communities, and urban commercial districts from every region in the country. Winners will be recognized at the “Main Street Now” Conference in Missouri in March 2018.

The winner will be announced this fall. There is no cash prize, but King said the recognition that comes with the award benefits the community. Past winners have used the award as means of leveraging different economic development projects, King said.

“This drives home to folks locally that what we’re doing not just fluff — it’s important to the community,” King said.

“This is truly great news, and a testament to the outstanding program Brunswick has developed and maintained,” Maine Development Foundation Director Jonathan C. Edgerton said.

jswinconeck@timesrecord.com