Welcome everyone, 

Biddeford Cultural and Heritage Center (BCHC) was started as a collaborative effort, the result of needs identified within the community after a year of meetings and working together. The vision is to unite, promote, preserve, share, teach and celebrate what makes our community so special and it seems to be working.

BCHC has awakened a sleeping giant. The Clock Tower, which was used for branding and in our video presentation, is getting more attention by being part of a national campaign for funding and repair. Many nonprofits are uniting and working in collaboration with the City in regards to the possibility of sharing in a national grant. The Biddeford Historical Society is offering monthly Fireside Chats, along with cataloging and archiving their belongings held at the library.  Our slogan “weaving together the fabric of our ethnic quilt” is being used commercially by some to further the visibility of Biddeford as a destination location.

The long term goal of BCHC is to have a Cultural and Heritage Center in the city, bringing in tourists, visitors, students, genealogists, researchers, etc. A facility where some of the smaller groups might be housed, with their own space, an event space for presentations or shows, a small interactive museum, possibly with rolling exhibits and repository of sorts to house artifacts and info from the various organizations with availability to the public is very much needed in this community.

As the website states, a cultural and heritage center has been the dream of many people throughout the years. From Joseph Plamondon’s vision and dreams in 1982 to celebrate the Franco-American heritage and that of other ethnicities, to more recent attempts by people in various organizations thoughout the city, the timing was never right, but now is the time.

Biddeford is a thriving community with a variety of ethnic cultures and diversity. It’s growing, changing and progressive, but much of the history and heritage is being lost, not shared, as the culture changes. Biddeford Cultural and Heritage Center was started because now is the time to share, preserve, teach and celebrate all that makes Biddeford, its people and surrounding areas, so special. This is our mission and there is no time to waste. We aspire to save, share, teach and celebrate with others. 

BCHC’s intent was never to duplicate organizational efforts. In fact, BCHC’s initial intent was to approach the Biddeford Historical Society, to work as a program under their auspices, but the board of BHS deemed the missions of the two organizations were so diverse, that it was not a viable option.

BCHC aims to capture and celebrate not just the historical facts of the area, but the stories of its people and families, the traditions, the music and arts, the culture, then and now.

It’s been a great first year and there is so much more coming. I hope you are all proud and look up with us to the future of Biddeford Cultural and Heritage Center as we celebrate where we all came from, where we are now, and where we are going, together.

Diane Cyr- President, Biddeford Cultural and Heritage Center,  2017-2018