Many communities that are working very hard to revitalize their downtown neighborhoods wrestle with the issue of what makes sense for the future of dilapidated white elephant buildings that dominate their streetscapes. Often, these buildings are vacant movie theaters and vaudeville houses that are very expensive to rehabilitate, and difficult to reconfigure for modern business needs. In some cases, the white elephant property is an abandoned gas station, dry cleaner’s building, or a vacant lot.
I draw your attention to the Waterhouse Center, in Kennebunk, Maine. Operated by the Town, the Waterhouse Center occupies a significant site in downtown Kennebunk, with retail shops and restaurants next door, and across the street. The Waterhouse Center is a 100’ by 120’ open-sided pavilion that houses an ice skating rink in the winter, and other cultural and community events in other seasons. In the warmer months, the ice rink converts to pickleball courts. It is easy to imagine the facility housing farmers’ markets, outdoor theater, or musical concerts during the summer. In fact, the Waterhouse Center is already home to arts and crafts shows, gymnastics competitions, and dances. A webcam shares the activity at the Center 24/7.
The Town of Kennebunk bought the abandoned gas station at 51 Main Street in 2010 for $280,000, with plans to clean up environmental contamination on the site and then market it for redevelopment. A $145,000 Brownfields remediation grant removed site contaminants, but town officials were unable to find a developer willing to build something new on the property. In 2012, residents voted to keep the property for town use, and town employees built a temporary ice rink for public skating each winter. The construction of a permanent structure was seeded by benefactor Geraldine Waterhouse, who saw local children skating on the temporary rink, and was reminded of the joy of skating growing up in Montreal. She established an endowment to support the project, and local residents raised $900,000 to build the new rink and pavilion, so the facility was constructed at no cost to the Town.
The Waterhouse Center was newly constructed on a vacant site. However, it may be possible to adapt existing clear-span space to achieve the same type of structure. The Waterhouse building includes a movie theater-style marquee at the front entrance, providing the image of a movie palace to the downtown streetscape. The facility continues to be owned and managed by the Town of Kennebunk, which has a recreation department, with the Zamboni operated by volunteers hourly. When the Center opened, there was keen local interest in being the Zamboni operator. The Chair of the local Board of Selectmen noted that “Apparently we have a lot of closet Zamboni operators in town.” Visitors who donate $10 get a ride on the Zamboni. But, thanks to a stipulation from Mrs. Waterhouse, skating is always free.
Lest you think that it is easier and cheaper to keep an ice rink operating in Maine, Kennebunk is located in southern Maine, in the seacoast region, in USDA zone 6. That means that Kennebunk is located in a warmer climate zone than most of upstate New York. The Town of Kennebunk budgets about $55,000 per year for the operation of the Center, with that cost being covered by Mrs. Waterhouse’s endowment.
While ice skating was the reason for Kennebunk to build their new rink, the multi-season functionality of the structure makes it an important community resource year-round. Ice skaters patronize neighboring restaurants for hot chocolate or coffee, attendees at the craft fairs buy lunch downtown, and visitors shop in local boutiques. The Center has had a significant impact on the viability of Kennebunk’s downtown economy. The website for the Waterhouse Center is https://www.kennebunkmaine.us/509/The-Waterhouse-Center.
The Curmudgeon