 I'm Diane McHugh from the Portland Phoenix and this is the November edition of Portland Rising, our monthly news interview and arts program produced by the Portland Phoenix in conjunction with our friends at the Portland Media Center. Tonight we're exploring the issues surrounding the old port, past, present, and future. We have with us Dean Cole from D. Cole Jewelers as well as Kerry Tyson, the executive director of the Portland downtown district. Some of us are old enough to remember when Portland's downtown with Congress Street had many department stores, Porteous Mitchell and Braun, Benoites, the streets were thronged with shoppers. This was back many, many years ago. The old port at that point was not developed and redeveloped the way it was in the 70s and since then there have been many changes in Portland and the downtown as well as the old port. So we're going to hear about those tonight. Dean, can you tell us what it was like in the early day when you first started your store I think on Exchange Street at that time? The area was pretty well developed. There was still plenty of buildings that were vacant, rundown, windows broke, but by the time we opened in 1980 it was getting along in pretty good shape but there were still buildings you could get that are really good price if you're willing to step in and develop. So you've been at your same location at Exchange Street that you're at now for since 1980? Since 1980. Last June we celebrated 40 years. Wow. So you must be one of the longest remaining businesses on Exchange Street? In the old port at retail there's Joseph's Clothier and I swear the two oldest. He dates us by quite a few years. He's been there I think 45. So what are some of the changes you've seen since 1980? What are the good parts, the bad parts, things you worry about? Rents have certainly increased dramatically. We've seen it, it was a pretty rough area back then. We would get our store broken into on at least every four or five months someone smash a window and come inside and break it up and haul stuff off. It was not like it is now and we haven't had an incident in a while. So it just seems a lot it's a lot comma area. So what but you had faith and you stayed even though you had those challenges at the beginning and you could have gone to the suburbs and you know why didn't you? We like the area you know just it's the old port it's you know there's so much going on and it's alive and it's just it's where we want it to be. Right. Right. Carrie tell us tell us about what the the Portland downtown district is doing and I know you've been working on lots of issues going on and you've had some success. I know there's going to be I think the council has just appropriated some money for some new bathrooms that will be downtown that will be very welcome and I'm sure you're working on other things. Can you tell us about that? Sure happy to and thanks again for having me on. We're in Portland downtown we're nearing our 30th anniversary. Our mission is to stimulate a thriving vibrant and sustainable downtown community. So we've been hard at work on that for like I said 30 years and yeah we're in the midst of all sorts of projects even though the world is a little bit abnormal including as you mentioned advocacy for public restrooms. Monday night the city council did dedicate $600,000 of American Rescue Plan Act for public restrooms. Those don't strictly be just downtown but I think some of them will end up downtown and so we're going to end up working on exactly where, exactly how, exactly what kinds of restrooms there will be. There's lots of different ideas in the mix and it's a long time coming. There's been a need for that and we're mindful that it's both a need in the old port and the arts and government district which is both places that we work. We're doing lots of other things as well. Here we are nearing the holiday time so we've just published our request for what we're calling our Mary Madness passport which is a month-long shopping event throughout downtown. We've got over 70 participants. They're going to have discounts in all sorts of stores. We're printing about 3,000 of them this year. It's about doubled in what we did last year. We've already had over 1200 requests in about two days so that's really good for us. So that's an exciting upcoming event that we hope will help commerce downtown. It's got QR codes that'll directly direct to websites and that sort of thing. So as the coronavirus and the Delta variant still here, if people don't want to get out, they can shop directly from their, you know, their lounger or their couch at downtown small independent businesses and lots of other going on as well. But let me mention just a couple of other things as I know you have lots of guests. Our Monument Square tree cam will be going live later in the month as well and that was such a popular activity that we did last year. It shows the tree to anybody in the world that's in Monument Square that want to see these incredible Portland, these incredible New England holidays. We really get a lot of hits, particularly when the snow falls. We do a lot of social and other promotions on that. We try to show people how they can cast it directly to their smart TVs and set in their home anywhere in the world and see downtown Portland, Maine and truly it's anywhere in the world. Last year we had inquiries and responses from people all across the world, Russia, England, Eastern Europe, Australia, New Zealand. The list goes on. So I mean, what an extraordinarily popular thing. So those are things that are coming in a lot more of course. It all sounds great. So with this season coming up, even when we talk about the supply chain problems, there's a lot of things that we'll be doing that we can do locally, even if we're not going into the stores to enjoy Portland's downtown and the old port. Absolutely. Yeah. There aren't many good things about the pandemic, but one of the good things is we've seen a lot of our downtown small independent businesses really build up their website presence. They've recognized that they had to provide the alternative ways for people to get their products. So the vast majority of our downtown businesses have a good and solid website that you can shop from. And in some cases, you know, you can go to their social channels, which oftentimes these days provide a shopping opportunity as well. And that's something else that's really been lifted up during the pandemic because folks have had to adjust the way they've advertised. So not many good things about it, but those are a couple of them. You know, the other one is we saw tons and tons of outdoor options, which has really led to a new vibrancy downtown. You know, the limit before the pandemic was about five outdoor eating spaces in the entire city. Now, at its height, we had about 67, I think, outdoor eating spaces. Those are slowly going away as the weather turns cold. And but, you know, it really brings another level of life to downtown. Yep. Kerry, the pandemic, as you mentioned, has brought many challenges. And a lot of the outdoor dining and the parking that has been removed has also brought a kind of specific challenge for some of the other businesses down there. Have you heard a lot about that? Or do you think that's manageable? Or do you think that's going to get better as some of these restaurants, as you mentioned, probably won't continue in the very cold weather to be serving outside? You know, that's one of the things we hear and talk about all the time. And what I always remind people is that it's hard to find parking in a great place. And, you know, that is what we have in downtown Portland, a great place. You know, that's what if you don't have a parking problem, then you have a parking problem, you know, it's too much parking a lot of time. So there's something like 15 to 17,000 parking spaces in downtown, depending upon how you define it. You know, it's, we have this mindset of that we want to park directly in front of places. So, you know, there's there's plenty of parking available. It's been more so even in the pandemic as people are not working in the office as much. So that's really not been something we've talked as much about other than we, you know, arguably have too much of it, you know, and lots of other ways to manage it through education, information, signage, multimodal transportation. But yeah, those outdoor dining spots are slowly dissipating, at least for the season. Though I think one thing we saw last year with the bubbles and the tents and these sort of things is that manors and their visitors are hearty folk and they like to be outside in the cold weather. They're not too much scares them off, though, you know, maybe they don't necessarily want a four star meal that's going to be cold in about three minutes, but they might be willing to enjoy some warm or tasty beverages, you know, or something like that while they're setting outside. Dean, what has the parking issue? Is that something you think about or try and I know if I'm going to exchange street, I have a struggle sometimes because I can't walk that far and, you know, to try and is that something that you're aware of or you think is a problem for the downtown for your store? It's definitely a problem. I mean, you know, it's when when people come from away and they can't find parking, you know, I know that it is there is more spaces available now during the pandemic. But just before the pandemic, I mean, every spot we were on the list to to get employee parking and we were on a three year waiting list. Yeah. And it's eased up now. But there is a real problem with finding spaces. But is there anything the city could be doing better to kind of open up parking for you? Well, I know that there was a there was a move in the city to eliminate spaces because, you know, less spaces, less cars, less congestion. But it's really people need their automobiles. It's just doesn't work that way. Well, we're kind of stuck in Portland because we we live in a state in a place where we're in our automobiles and there's no in the public transportation is not a very good option if you're coming in from Falmouth or outside to to get in town and do some shopping. And that's that's a challenge, I think. It's challenging. Yeah. I have had customers say, you know, can't come down because of the issues with parking. But basically, people want to get in, they figure away, you know, right, right, right. I'm wondering what the relationship is, and maybe the sort of an artificial distinction, distinction carry between the issues that face the downtown part of the city and Congress Street and the very urban downtown versus the old port that I don't know if that's a distinction without a difference or if they're kind of mutually dependent. I mean, certainly great businesses like Longfellow Books are kind of part of part of each each place. And I'm wondering if you carry how you define your role. I mean, obviously, you're taking in also the old port. But if if there's a different response and strategy to the downtown versus, you know, the old port in terms of issues you're dealing with. Yeah, you know, we work in both of those areas, the old port and the arts and government district. And it's both different and the same. You know, some of the challenges, it's and it depends upon the time of the year. You know, the when we went in the days when we had cruise ships and these sorts of things, and we still had lots of bus tours and the like, even more so perhaps during the pandemic because people weren't able to travel overseas. So, you know, they adjusted their schedules and came to places like Portland, Maine, which are truly a national draw. You know, so we try to, you know, engage people to get to all across downtown. But you know, there is the sort of natural barriers that we as humans adjust to negative space and things like surface parking, large surface parking lots, whereas we often call them an urban place management parking craters. You know, as a human, we just it's sort of we default to turning around. We kind of automatically think that nothing is happening, even though sometimes there's a gap and then it gets very active again. So, you know, you've seen us or those have been paying attention in the last couple of years, we put up a lot of signage downtown. We see a lot of vibrancy. Again, that downtown outdoor space or that outdoor eating has really helped engage folks. But it is a little bit of two different places that sometimes the tourists only think about the old port. So, it's we have to encourage them to move beyond that. And we've got a variety of different tools to do that, you know, including but not limited to maps. And there are a lot of the tour guides that are downtown, they sort of take you all around so that you can familiarize yourself with other parts that sort of aren't the default. But it is something that we're constantly working on. Well, there's big new developments coming online. There's of course a huge residential building being built right at the downtown on Congress Street. And the biggest, I think, the tallest building in Maine that's being built. And of course, the Portland foreside development on the at the on the east end that we've written about in the Phoenix this week. And they want to kind of draw from the old port, they say, but not detract from the old port. So I'm wondering, you know, if you have thoughts of that or how that's going to take a long time to build out. But there's certainly a lot of building going on. And there's, and there's been a lot of building, of course, and condo development right above Ocean Gateway in that area. And still a lot of things happening. Yeah, for us, it's an exciting time. We're excited about that new development down in what they're calling Portland foreside. We think it'll only enhance the downtown. It's technically not in the improvement district, which is where we work. But, you know, we also recognize we don't work in a vacuum. So we think these things can work together and be good partners, good, you know, any development like that that's happening is good for the city, we think. So we're excited about it. We're also excited about that 18 story building. It's going to be largely housing, which is such a need, not just downtown, but, you know, throughout Maine, really, for that matter. So that is a very exciting. I know there's a new book just to give a comparison published on a photography of Portland in the 70s by a gentleman named John Duncan, I saw the other day. And, you know, I was looking at those photos and thinking about how things have changed. And that's a thing they're always doing, you know, back then, down the downtown, the old port, the art now arts and government district was perhaps not the place it is now. So we like to see that exciting when we see housing, we see people that are going to need services, they're going to be buying jewelry, they're going to be buying groceries, they're going to be, you know, buying coffee, all that sort of thing. So it's an exciting time for those developments. So we're glad to see it. And forgive me, I'm sorry, I'm a hard out of 1030, but thank you. I have to get to another meeting. Thank you so much, Carrie. Thank you. One thing I'm wondering, and we will be closing out soon, there's, as there always is, as you mentioned, when you're, when you started downtown on Exchange Street, there, you were dealing with some street crime and break-ins and things like that. And that's still happening. It's happened on Congress Street. I don't know if it's recently within the last few weeks. I don't know if it's happened on Exchange recently. Is that something that you, the security, the safety of your shoppers, I think someone was mentioning that used to be open very late in the evenings, but I guess, I guess you're not the stores down, down there and you'll burn not open late these days. But yeah, I think that has a lot less to do with crime and just, just general business practice. You know, we try to manage staff and, and, you know, have a decent life and, you know, those long hours can be grueling, you know. Right. Yeah. But what, you know, Portland, I mean, I've seen it in my short amount of time here. It was a, you know, it was a gritty little fishing mill town, not that long ago. I mean, the ground fishermen would pull the nets right up on commercial street and do net repairs. And there was freight trains right on commercial. We had a Crosby Lawland, Laughlin, I think it was. They had a foundry right out there. And, that rang, you know, 24-7. And it was a, it was a different city back then. And the crime was a little more gritty and just not like it is now. It's wonderful. I remember. Yeah. Yeah. If you go back there, it's, it's, and it's not like that anymore. I mean, it's safe and, you know, it's a great little area. It's really an amazing transition to happen to. Over a short period of time, you know, in my lifetime, which is pretty long. But I want to thank you, Dean, for being with us tonight. This was, this was very informative and interesting. Want to thank Carrie for discovering many, many issues that are going, that have been going on and are important to the, to the future of Portland's downtown at Oldport. And I want to thank our viewers for joining us this month on Portland Rising. And please join us next month for another edition of Portland Rising. Thank you.