BIDDEFORD —Close your eyes and imagine a downtown Biddeford fully immersed in the arts.

Open your eyes? – it’s not just in your imagination.

Biddeford-based arts organization Engine has announced it is making strides to redevelop the historic “Marble Block” building at 129 Main St. into an all-encompassing, regional center for the arts, design and entrepreneurship.

Tammy Ackerman, executive director of Engine, said Thursday the space could serve a multitude of artistic and other community focused purposes, from maker spaces to entertainment and events.

“The intent is to create a center for art, design and innovation. It will be a mixed-use facility, and Engine will occupy a portion of it,” Ackerman said. “(It’s) anything that fits into our mission of arts, design, culture and entrepreneurialism.”

There would be room for potential film production companies, animation and film studios, artist, students and hopefully a restaurant, she said. In addition, the building’s third floor is likely to become an event space for concerts or other multipurpose functions.

The building, with its characteristic marble façade, formerly housed a Reny’s department store. The Reny’s company donated the space to Engine in 2011 and, since that time, Engine has partnered with Marble Block Redevelopment Corp. to spearhead the project.

Renovations to the 22,000-square-foot building are projected to cost about $4.5 million, Ackerman said, but the developers have already gotten a jump on their funding in part with state and federal grant funding.

The Marble Block project has received $200,000 in grant funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Brownfields Program, which provides grant money to communities to clean up and sustainably reuse “brownfields,” or downtrodden areas considered to be hazardous or polluted.

Ackerman said in a release the funding will be used to remove remaining hazardous materials from the building, such as lead and asbestos. Half of the building’s hazardous material was removed in 2015 due to a previous grant from the Southern Maine Planning and Development Commission.

Engine has also been awarded a $15,000 grant through the Belvedere Historic Preservation Grants Program of the Maine Community Foundation. This money will fund assessment of the building’s structural integrity.

Ackerman said the money granted toward the project is an investment in Biddeford’s future, and people should understand that public funds are only given to projects that provide promise of return on that investment.

“The difficult thing is, yes, it’s public money, but nobody is going to put that kind of upfront investment in the building unless they’re sure there’s going to be a commercial use for it.”

Because of the building’s historic designation, historic tax credits are also available to help fund renovations. Forty percent of renovation costs can be generated by exchanging the credits with investors who will in turn provide cash for construction, Ackerman said in a release.

Mayor Alan Casavant said he’s pleased that progress is being made on the property.

“Renovating an old historic building can take time and money, but this news is particularly exciting as the Marble Block is so iconic. Additionally, the goals of this project, which are to provide community space for commercial tenants and for Engine’s creative programing, are important educationally, artistically, and economically in the ongoing revitalization of the Downtown area.” he said in an email.

Engine has also hired Emma Burnett, a Springvale native, as its development and engagement coordinator. Burnett’s role is to assist with community fundraising to help the project break ground.

“Emma’s role is to be helping us with the infrastructure around fundraising and lay a plan for seeking community fundraising and engaging the community of this project,” Ackerman said. “She’ll be doing some outreach and engagement but mainly helping with the internal management of the process.”

Ackerman said 2017 will be the “year of the dollar,” during which Engine will be fundraising and applying for more grant money to fund the renovation. If successful, ground could break on the project in 2018 with hopes of being open in 2019.

Ackerman said the space will ultimately put more “feet on the street” and act as a draw to downtown Biddeford and the greater Biddeford-Saco area.

“What attracts people to a downtown community is how attractive and walkable and how friendly that community is,” she said. “The more people coming out when they have an event at the arts, design and cultural center, the more it should trickle out to having more amenities in terms of restaurants, and hopefully other property owners will start to see the potential.”

— Staff Writer Alan Bennett can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 329 or [email protected].