The Biddeford Cultural and Heritage Center needs your help.

The City Budget Committee has recommended changing the Community Center into shared-use meeting space. If approved by the City Council, organizations currently located there—including the Biddeford Cultural and Heritage Center—would be required to remove museum displays, archives, our resource library, display cases, artifacts, equipment, storage, and other materials.

For us, this is much more than losing meeting space. It means losing the permanent home that allows us to preserve and share Biddeford’s history and culture with our community.

We understand and support the City’s goal of making more space available for community organizations. Many nonprofits are struggling to find affordable homes.

However, organizations like ours need much more than a meeting room. We need secure, permanent space to:

• Preserve historical archives and documents.
• Protect irreplaceable artifacts and donated collections.
• Display exhibits for the public.
• Store equipment and supplies.
• Conduct research.
• Welcome visitors and provide educational programs.

These collections have been donated by generations of local families and supporters. If they are displaced without a suitable permanent home, pieces of Biddeford’s history could become inaccessible or even be lost. Once that history is gone, it cannot be recreated.

Many important questions remain unanswered:

• Where will the affected organizations go?
• What alternative space has been identified?
• How will organizations continue serving the public without the facilities they depend on every day?
• How will the City ensure that historical collections, archives, and artifacts remain safe and accessible?

We believe there is a better solution.

Rather than forcing organizations to compete for limited space, Biddeford has an opportunity to create a true Cultural and Heritage Center—a permanent home where organizations such as the Biddeford Cultural and Heritage Center, the Biddeford Historical Society, the Biddeford Mills Museum, La Kermesse, the St. Louis Alumni Association, Friends of Wood Island Light, and others can work together while maintaining their own collections and identities.

Imagine one destination where residents, students, researchers, and visitors can explore Biddeford’s rich history through exhibits, archives, educational programs, cultural events, and shared resources. Such a center would strengthen our community, preserve our heritage, and create a lasting legacy for future generations.

How You Can Help

Please consider supporting this effort by:

• Contacting your City Council members and asking them to slow this process until a thoughtful long-term plan is developed.
• Encouraging the City to explore creating a permanent Cultural and Heritage Center for Biddeford.
• Sharing this message with family, friends, and neighbors.
• Letting us know if you are aware of available space, storage, funding opportunities, or businesses and individuals willing to help.

Our history and culture belong to the entire community. The organizations that preserve them deserve more than temporary meeting space, they deserve a permanent home where Biddeford’s story can continue to be preserved, shared, and celebrated.

Together, we can protect our past while building a stronger future for our community.