CARIBOU — The future of the Nordic Heritage Center in Presque Isle and the possibility of a national park near Baxter State Park dominated the latest Aroostook Partnership for Progress board of directors meeting held Jan. 9 in Caribou.
Representatives of the Nordic Heritage Sport Club addressed the board about two options for funding the Nordic ski facility in the future. The first option would be to continue to attract World Cup biathlon events, like one already on the books for 2016, and the second option would be to downsize the facility to be more of a community venue, but still attract smaller regional races.
Paul Towle said reductions in funding from the Libra Foundation are the driving force behind the close examination of operations at the Nordic Heritage Center (NHC). He said to continue to be a world-class venue would require about $50,000 annually to be raised locally and a community-based model would be $30,000 to $40,000. This first figure does not include significant additional sponsorship dollars for major events.
Jane Towle added the World Cup events do bring funds into the clubs coffers, but require a massive volunteer effort and in the case of the 2016 event a new $100,000 media building.
“Sometimes you have to spend money to make money,” said Towle.
Officials said this decision on future operations is too big for the steering committee to make alone, so input is being collected from the community. A community meeting was held in Presque Isle last month.
“Many of the investors in the Partnership donate to the NHC, sponsor events, or allow their employees to volunteer in support of major events,” said APP President Bob Dorsey. “We heard from the board that there is value in having the NHC, but the CEOs really needed to know exactly how much financial support was being asked of their companies.”
An advocate for the Katahdin Woods and Water National Park proposal also addressed the board Friday. Lucas St. Clair spoke of the economic benefits to the Millinocket region and beyond.
“I envision Bangor and Houlton as being gateways to the visitors to the park,” said St. Clair. “Houlton is a prime location to receive the tourists from Atlantic Canada and provide them with services before they reach the north end of the park, which is just south of Patten.
St. Clair also used his presentation to distance the proposal from one forwarded years earlier by the group RESTORE. He made it very clear they are two different concepts, and the park and land to be donated from a foundation formed by Roxanne Quimby would be only 75,000 acres on the one side of the East Branch of the Penobscot River and a 75,000 acre National Recreation Area on the other side.
St. Clair, who is Quimby’s son, said in addition to the land, the foundation would set up a $40 million endowment to fund maintenance and operations at the park.
According to a report from Headwaters Economics, a new national park and recreation area in northern Maine would create 450 to 1,000 jobs and attract younger workers and entrepreneurs to the Katahdin region.
The APP board of directors is next scheduled to meet in March at TAMC in Presque Isle for a strategic planning and visioning session.
