Main Street Hero Named for 2005

William F. King, Jr.

Main Street Bath, a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation together with the National Main Street Program is proud to announce William F. King, Jr. received Monday in Baltimore, MD the prestigious “Main Street Hero Award for 2005”. Mr. King, owner of RVI a motorcycle and snowmobile parts store, in Bath, Maine has been at the forefront of downtown revitalization for not only Bath, but also many other New England downtowns since the early 1990’s. As the shift in the market place brought an influx of big box stores to Maine, Mr. King rallied the small business owners of downtown Bath to educate themselves, find their niche and work together to keep Bath a highly successful downtown. “King was not one to bemoan the inevitable. As a merchant himself, he competed and he convinced others to compete”. The late, Peter Cox, former owner of the Maine Times, wrote in his letter of support for this award.

Those efforts culminated in the formation of a highly successful downtown merchants’ group, The Bath Business Association, which went on to become a role model throughout the State of Maine. Bill’s vision and leadership qualities kept the Bath business community working together for their collective and individual success. Polly Thibodeau, owner of Brick Store Antiques describes those efforts, “Bill was and is so passionate about making sure Bath’s downtown remains vital. At meetings I always felt he validated what anyone had to say and we were all kept well informed.”

Keeping downtown Bath successful has always been the guiding principal of his efforts thus he began to investigate and educate the Bath community on the successful National Main Street Program. Understanding the need for statewide support for such a program, Mr. King became active at the grass roots level in lobbying the Legislature to invest in the Main Street Program by developing the Maine Downtown Center. Following that successful effort, Mr. King realized that the “next step” for Bath was to apply for designation as a Main Street Community. This would require the dissolving of the successful BBA, which he gracefully negotiated in addition to helping a committee of invested Bath citizens compete for and win designation as one of Maine’s inaugural Main Street Communities.

Mr. King continues to travel the state to educate communities about the Main Street model and conducts training that the Main Street Bath Economic Restructuring Committee developed on customer surveys and market analysis. He lobbies local and state politicians to support pro-commercial district revitalization legislation and funding and has personally raised thousands of dollars for both the local and statewide Maine Street programs. Mr. King is known foremost as the “man on the street.” He believes in walking the streets to connect with shop owners, keep their collective voice heard and engage them in talking with each other. He has recently been made chairman of the Maine Downtown Center Advisory Council.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation states, “We are honored to award William F. King, Jr. the 2005 Main Street Hero Award in recognition for his unwavering voice for the Main Street model, his support of historic downtowns and his ability to motivate merchants to greater heights”.

Main Street Bath is a non-profit organization partnering with business owners, private citizens, city government and other non-profits to preserve and promote Downtown Bath, Maine. Using the “Main Street” program developed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation for revitalization of the economy and the appearance of traditional downtowns, Main Street Bath works to support and strengthen the thriving, year-round, riverfront downtown community of Bath. For more information visit the website www.visitbath.com.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a private, nonprofit membership organization dedicated to protecting the irreplaceable. Recipient of the National Humanities Medal, the Trust provides leadership, education and advocacy to save America’s diverse historic places and revitalize communities. Its Washington, DC headquarters staff, six regional offices and 26 historic sites work with the Trust’s members and thousands of local community groups in all 50 states. For more information, visit the National Trust’s web site at www.nationaltrust.org.