WESTBROOK — When Tabitha Swanson bought the former Benoit Block on Main Street in June 2016, she didn’t know that getting the historic building in shape to house her public accounting firm would take more than two years.

But Swanson is using the lengthy repair time as an opportunity to partner with the city to give the 120-year-old building at 838 Main St. a facelift by updating and rehabilitating the exterior.

Through the recently launched facade improvement program, the city gives participating businesses or property owners up to $15,000 in matching funds to complete exterior improvements, such as painting or updating signage or windows. Swanson and four other property owners have signed up to participate so far.

“Originally, we weren’t planning on doing facade work, but given how long this project has taken … we thought if the city was giving us $15,000, we could kick in the rest to give it a better face and make it beautiful,” Swanson said.

The new facade, which will include a new coat of paint, brickwork and new windows, will be modeled after a storefront in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, a look that will “capture the style of the period, but also update it,” she said.

“That is the big splash that shows what a business can do with a facade grant if they have the money to put into it,” said Discover Downtown Westbrook Director Abigail Cioffi, who has helped Economic Development Director Daniel Stevenson facilitate the program.

Swanson said when she first purchased the building, she “didn’t know the challenges it had,” including rotting structural beams in the basement.

The firm moved into the building in November 2017 and with the recent acquisition of Howgate & Harmon, a four-person accounting firm in South Portland, it has feverishly been trying to get the work done to accommodate all employees, she said. The Church Street side of the building is now being renovated into a conference room and space to host accounting and finance events for clients and the public, complete with taps from Mast Landing and a coffee bar. In October, Swanson said, the firm will remodel the second floor and move into that space.

The property, built in 1896 by Arthur Benoit and former Mayor William Cutter, is one of the oldest downtown and one of the few that was not torn down during the urban renewal in the 1970s. Known as the Benoit Block, the building was home to Benoit’s department store and Nutter’s Department Store, as well as the AFL-CIO Union Hall, Welch & Welch Attorneys and the Westbrook Chamber of Commerce. In more recent years, the building was home to Current Publishing.

Throughout the renovations, Swanson said historical items have been found, including playbills from the Star Theater, which operated on the corner of Main and Central streets (the current site of Martini Lane) for 50 years, as well as signs and receipts from Benoit’s. Swanson said some of these finds, as well as historic pictures of the building will be part of the decor of the office once renovations are complete.

Other participants in the inaugural facade improvement program include the businesses at 869 Main St., 863 Main St., 855 Main St. and 1 Westbrook Common.

The Edwards Block at 869 Main St., owned by T& T Development, will get a fresh coat of paint, Saco Bay Physical Therapy will install a new awning and Black Dinah, a new sign. Full Court Press, at 855 Main St., will repaint its building and place new lettering on its large glass window and replace its sign.

“We probably would have done it anyway, but it was great timing because the program makes it  a lot easier,” said Ed Symbol, who owns Full Court Press.

Continuum for Creativity, at 863 Main St., will be get a new sign and a fresh coat of paint, and Para LLC, which owns 1 Westbrook Commons, has applied to improve the backside of the building facing William Clarke Drive. James Para, said the work will include brickwork and new windows in preparation of a new tenant moving into space currently occupied by ITN, which is moving out in late September.

Para said he hopes the updated facade help lure customers downtown and attract new businesses to his building.

The program, launched by the council in May, is funded through $80,000 from the Westbrook Economic Improvement Corporation and is focused on the heart of downtown. The targeted area is Main Street from where it converges with William Clarke Drive and Conant Street to just before the Westbrook Post Office. 

Facade programs “can be highly successful in leveraging private sector capital,” Stevenson said in May.

“There is a great mix of projects in the first round, small to big,” Cioffi said.

Stevenson said additional owners may be coming forward either in this round or potential future rounds of the facade improvement project.

The funding cannot be used to purchase commercial property or equipment or for new building construction, routine maintenance or substantial interior work. Improvements must meet federal, state and local codes.

Michael Kelley can be reached at 781-3661 x 125 or mkelley@keepmecurrent.com or on Twitter @mkelleynews.

The Swanson Group will be updating the front of 836-840 Main Street with facade improvement money for the city. 

Swanson Group’s location on Main Street was built in 1897 to house Benoit’s department store. The building is receiving a substantial interior renovation and Tabitha Swanson, Swanson Group’s owner, will keep the historic feel of the building in mind when she updates the building’s facade. 

The building at 855 Main St., which houses Fajita Grill, Full Court Press and Big Fin Poke, has been repainted under the new facade program. Full Court Press received new lettering as well. 

T & T Development, owner of 869 Main St., is taking advantage of the city’s program to repaint the building and provide a new awning for Saco Bay Physical Therapy and a new sign for Black Dinah Chocolatiers.