Mecca in the Making
Fort Kent sets its sight on becoming a leading winter sports destination
MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM (Portland, ME), February 8, 2004
Staff Writer Tux Turkel
Ed Collin has carpenters working seven days a week to finish the Swamp Buck restaurant and lounge, his new Main Street business. With two floors and a sports bar, it will be the largest eating place in this town of 4,200 residents. The space will come in handy. An estimated 20,000 people are expected to converge on northern Maine in the first week of March, and Collin figures most of them will be hungry and thirsty.
Collin and other business people in Aroostook County are gearing up to host the first World Cup Biathlon ever held in New England, from March 3 to 6. The competition, which involves Nordic skiing and rifle marksmanship, is getting lots of media attention as a sporting event and source of community pride. But business people also see it as an opportunity for tourism and economic development, both now and in the future. For his part, Collin is investing roughly $500,000 on his project with the belief that the area will make a lasting impression on visitors. "I believe once we get them up here," Collin said, "we'll get them back."
Biathlon organizers say this will be the largest spectator-sporting event ever held in the county. They expect visitors to directly spend $1.3 million on lodging, food, fuel and shopping over the four days. When multipliers are included to account for respending the money in the community, the event is estimated to generate $5.2 million in overall economic impact. But that's only the initial boost.
Organizers say next month's competition has positioned the area to lure future World Cup events, such as the Junior World Championships of biathlon, scheduled for 2006 in Presque Isle. Biathlon is said to be the most popular winter sport in Europe, and it's common for 20 million people to watch it on television. A German TV station is set to carry the Fort Kent games live in prime time. That broadcast will give Aroostook County the kind of exposure that's hard to buy with advertising dollars. The hope is that televised features from a place where snowmobiles are almost as common as cars and millions of acres of woodland recreation are at the doorstep will appeal to adventurous Europeans.
On top of that, publicizing the St. John Valley's Acadian cultural heritage, characterized by French-speaking residents on both sides of the U.S.-Canadian border, adds another dimension for European tourists. "That's an awareness that will pay dividends down the road," said Andy Shepard, president and chief executive officer of Maine Winter Sports Center. Maine Winter Sports Center is the 5-year-old creation of Portland-based Libra Foundation, the nonprofit philanthropic group that invests millions of dollars a year promoting economic and community development.
The center's goal is to re-establish skiing as a lifestyle in Maine. The center owns two new cross-country ski facilities in the county, here in Fort Kent and in Presque Isle. The biathlon will be held at the 10th Mountain Center, a handsome lodge and Nordic ski facility that includes spectator areas, target shooting stations and miles of trails. The center also owns Big Rock, a downhill skiing mountain in Mars Hill. The presence of these ski areas can help draw greater attention to winter sports in Aroostook County, Shepard said, just as investment in Lake Placid, N.Y., turned that sleepy village into a winter Olympic sports destination.
Part of that successful formula, Shepard said, is to build world-class facilities that make it worthwhile for people to travel to remote areas. That's what Maine Winter Sports Center and its local supporters are trying to do. "Our model is a little different," he said, "but our intent is the same." The state of New York and other sources have invested $40 million in recent years to upgrade the facilities at Lake Placid, to boost winter tourism in the Adirondacks. Notably, Lake Placid is hosting six World Cup competitions this season at venues that were used during the 1980 Olympic winter games, including bobsled and luge. The final one, on Feb. 28 and 29, is the World Cup biathlon event that precedes the competition in Fort Kent.
The idea of raising Fort Kent's profile as a sports destination is enticing for a community that is heavily dependent on the forest-products industry. The impact can be seen in the fluctuating unemployment rate last year. In January, when logging activity is at its peak, the rate was near the statewide average of 5.6 percent. In May, when mud season calls a halt to cutting and hauling, the unemployment rate shot to 12.6 percent - three times the statewide average. Fort Kent also functions as a service and education center for part of the St. John Valley. Major employers include the University of Maine, Northern Maine Medical Center and MBNA, the credit card bank that has a call center in town. The area suffered a blow in 2002 when Kent Inc., a children's clothing manufacturer, declared bankruptcy and moved away. The town is buying its building, and another clothing producer has since opened its doors there.
The biathlon has led some Fort Kent officials to dream of transforming the area into a four-season destination for sporting events, according to Leo Trudel, the town's community development director. Among the ideas are mountain bike racing and canoe races on the St. John River. "All of these things could help bring Fort Kent into a new era," Trudel said. In promoting the World Cup, Fort Kent is building on a successful winter tourism event. It's based on a firm foundation - snow. The St. John Valley claims an average annual snowfall of 10 feet. Reliable snow has contributed to the growth of the Can-Am Crown sled dog races, marking its 12th year on Feb. 21 and 22. The event drew 5,000 spectators last year.
For the biathlon, business people will be accommodating 5,000 people a day. Most will come from Aroostook County and the rest of Maine, but hundreds are expected from Canada, New England and Europe. With Fort Kent's lodging places filled with athletes, film crews and officials, organizers have developed a network of motels, inns and private homes stretching from Madawaska to Presque Isle to host spectators. Some guests will be staying across the border in Edmundston, New Brunswick. Many overnight guests in Fort Kent will sleep at the Northern Door Inn, a 43-room motel just off Main Street. Collin, the motel's co-owner, has coaches and some athletes booked in the motel. He's charging the teams a discount rate, he said, because biathlon promoters are giving the motel thousands of dollars in advertising. It's also common for biathlon fans and family members to follow the athletes on their tours, so Collin hopes these visitors will come earlier and travel around the area.
""It's going to give us a good shot in the arm," he said. The largest group of athletes will stay in a new residence hall being completed on the University of Maine campus. Over the past few weeks, construction workers have been struggling in bitter cold weather to finish a wing of the $7 million building before the guests arrive. The general contractor is Pizzagalli Construction Co., which has a regional office in South Portland. The building was designed by Port City Architecture in Portland. Aroostook County has some experience hosting large groups. Three times over the past seven summers, residents have welcomed between 60,000 and 70,000 fans of the musical group Phish for massive festivals held at the former Loring Air Force Base in Limestone. Of course, few people are likely to be camping and cooking out in early March, so the logistics of hosting even a third as many visitors in winter requires a bit more infrastructure. Nancy Thibodeau, a member of the management team organizing the biathlon, said the commitment made by Maine Winter Sports Center is giving local business people, such as Collin, confidence to invest. The concept of using nordic skiing to enhance development in northern Maine offers ways to diversify the economy beyond the traditional focus on forestry. "There's certainly a sense of excitement," Thibodeau said. "There's a little pride, a little challenge. You put that together, and you can come up with things." In the long run, northern Aroostook County needs to come up with a higher profile among tourists
That exposure would benefit the state as a whole, Thibodeau said, because tourists who do find their way to Fort Kent to take in the biathlon can't help but pass through other parts of Maine. "We're not just marketing Fort Kent," she said. "We're marketing the St. John Valley and Aroostook County. And we're marketing Maine."
When athletes arrive for the World Cup Biathlon from March 3 to 6, many will stay in a new $7 million residence hall under construction at the University of Maine at Fort Kent. Fort Kent businessman Ed Collin is spending $500,000 to ready the new Swamp Buck restaurant and lounge, for an influx of customers that he expects from events like the World Cup Biathlon in coming weeks.
To learn more: On the Web, go to: www.fortkentchamber.com or www.fortkentbiathlon.org
Staff Writer Tux Turkel can be contacted at 791-6462 or at: tturkel@pressherald.com
Staff photos by John PatriquinCopyright (c) 2004 Guy Gannett Communications
Record Number: 0402080283
Forecast Office Named Energy Saver Showcase Facility
The energy-efficient Caribou, ME, Weather Forecast Office (WFO) has been designated as a 2003 Federal Energy Saver Showcase facility by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) of the Department of Energy's Federal Energy Management Program.
A plaque notifying visitors they are entering a government building that uses energy and water wisely and saves taxpayer dollars will be sent to WFO Caribou in the next two months.
The project will also be summarized in the 2003 Federal Energy Saver Showcase booklet describing the projects completed this year.
"Our staff is very proud of our new facility. It's an outstanding example of teamwork by local, state, and federal officials," said Larry Gabric, Caribou's Meteorologist-In-Charge. "Caribou is probably viewed as the most advanced facility in the NWS's inventory of Weather Forecast Offices. It serves as a model in terms of design, building materials, energy efficiency, equipment, safety, security, and lightning protection."
Designed and built by the NWS's Caribou WFO Facility Team, Caribou has already been recognized as one of the first federal buildings to fully incorporate energy efficiency. Every aspect of the building's design, construction, and operation has been analyzed and optimized to minimize its impact on the environment.