Biddeford organizations fear upheaval from proposed community center changes
Biddeford has begun work on the playground at J. Richard Martin Community Center, installing play structures and removing dead or dying trees. (Sydney Richelieu/Staff Writer)
BIDDEFORD — Some organizations that operate out of the J. Richard Martin Community Center are bracing for potential changes to the building’s space-use setup that they fear could be debilitating.
The City Council is expected to vote in early fall on a proposal from the city Parks and Recreation Department that would convert the community center spaces currently used by local organizations into shared spaces.
The matter was scheduled for a vote last week but has since been pushed back; the agenda for last week’s council meeting was overhauled to focus on reaction to the fatal shooting of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero.
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Five organizations currently operate out of the center: La Kermesse, Meals on Wheels, the Biddeford Cultural and Heritage Center, the Biddeford Fifty Plus Club and Biddeford Adult Education.
If the council supports a proposal to convert the organizations’ spaces into shared areas that multiple groups could use, the organizations would still have access to the building for meetings and events, but they would have to move their belongings — including archives — out of the community center.
The purpose of the proposal, Parks and Recreation Director Lisa Thompson said, is not to “kick organizations out” but to make space for more groups to use the community center.
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“There are a lot of community organizations that would like to use space in the building, and we oftentimes have to say no to them because we don’t have the space available,” Thompson said. “We want to create an equitable process.”
Thompson said the city’s Capital Projects and Operations Committee, which oversees the lease agreements with the organizations housed in the community center, began the process of figuring out how to best make use of the center last year.
Thompson settled on three potential options: organizations could begin to pay rent for their space, the spaces could become “shared” or the center could stay as is with no change.
Poll workers Anne Strout, Barbara Jackson, Ruth Boissonnault and Alfred Martel wait for voters at the J. Richard Martin Community Center in Biddeford during the June 2014 election. The Community Center is used by several local organizations, but the Parks and Recreation Department head says there are others that are in need of space, too. (Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer)
The committee ultimately decided that asking the five organizations to move their belongings out of the building and setting up a schedule to allow more groups to use the spaces would be the best option.
“It isn’t just these five organizations that do so much for the community,” Thompson said. “There are several other groups that do so much, and they don’t have exclusive space.”
‘DON’T KNOW WHAT WE’D DO’
While the proposal is intended to create equitable space in the community center for all local organizations, the groups housed there say moving their possessions out of the center would be detrimental.
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Ashley Perrone, community impact director for Meals on Wheels, said losing its dedicated space at the community center would be “significant.”
Meals on Wheels needs permanent access to adequate freezer and refrigerator space, Perrone said, and finding another space to meet those needs would be difficult.
Each week, Meals on Wheels serves about 200 people at its Biddeford location, Perrone said, which works out to about 900 meals per week.
Meals on Wheels also uses its space at the community center to pack meals and run a community cafe where older adults can enjoy a meal and socialize with others who may otherwise experience isolation.
“A move would disrupt the program and negatively affect the older adults who depend on it,” Perrone said. “We support the goal of creating a welcoming and equitable community space. At the same time, Meals on Wheels has specific operational needs that must be considered.”
The organization’s budget is about $2 million annually, most of which comes from federal and state grants. That budget is stretched across all eight of Meals on Wheels’ sites in southern Maine, and most is spent on food, Perrone said.
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The Biddeford Cultural and Heritage Center would also face difficulty if the council were to approve the proposal. Center President Diane Cyr said members are “at a loss right now.”
“We don’t know what we’ll do if the full council votes for this,” Cyr said.
The Cultural and Heritage Center houses archives, display cases and historical collections in the community center. Finding an affordable space to store those important pieces of Biddeford’s culture and history would be difficult, Cyr said.
“It’s time for a true cultural center in the community,” she said.
If the council does vote to approve the reconfiguration proposal, Thompson said the community center will work with organizations to find a solution. The Parks and Recreation Department is supportive of all organizations in the city, she said, and wants those that are housed at the center to continue doing their work.
“We don’t want to put any group out of commission,” Thompson said. “It’s not about kicking anybody out — it’s about trying to utilize the space we have here for everybody that needs it.”
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Tagged: biddeford city council, community center
Sydney is a community reporter for Biddeford, Saco, Old Orchard Beach, Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Arundel and previously reporter for the Courier and Post. Sydney grew up in Kennebunk and is a graduate. More by Sydney Richelieu
