Bath’s future will take center stage on Saturday.

That’s when Main Street Bath is hosting a public forum — Downtown Tomorrow — to get feedback from the community about the future of the city, as well as the organization. The forum will take place from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Winter Street Center, located at 880 Washington St.

“Main Street Bath, as a board, recognized that we need to stop and evaluate what we’ve been doing as an organization for 16 years now,” said Mari Eosco, interim director of Main Street Bath and Bath City Council chairwoman. “We decided a strategic plan would be a good way to do that, and as we started getting into the process, we realized that we needed to get a fresh idea of what people in the community are thinking about — what they want for a future of our downtown.”

Main Street Bath organizes events and promotions in the city, including Bath Heritage Days and Be Bath, Buy Bath. For the last few months, the organization has been developing a strategic plan, and the Downtown Tomorrow forum is intended to give the plan an infusion of community input.

“We really need to get a pulse on what the hopes and wishes are of the community,” said Eosco.

Input from the forum will help Main Street Bath determine whether it has appropriate staffing to meet the community’s needs, and whether its events and activities are what the people want. The organization has also been soliciting comments and feedback through a Facebook group that has more than 250 members.

Craig Freshley, who was hired to facilitate the strategic planning process, will also be hosting focus groups with small business owners and Bath Housing, along with a number of individual interviews.

“We’re trying to get a broad grasp on what the community is thinking,” said Eosco. “There are other ways that people can give their input, and what we’re finding is that the Facebook page has really been effective.”

The forum will also be an opportunity for city staff to solicit input for Bath’s comprehensive plan, expected to be updated in the coming years.

Eosco noted that the city also has recognized its “comprehensive plan is in need of update in the next couple years.

“So we figured we’d piggyback on this process so that we were getting all of the same information,” she said, “and this information will be taken and used in the downtown portion of the comprehensive plan.

“Bath is in an evolution right now that we recognize,” she added, “and we want to be sure that the community has opportunities to share their ideas of the direction they want to see it go in.”

nstrout@timesrecord.com

The Times Record Sustaining Sponsor
We believe a community must be informed to thrive. bowdoin.edu