By Wayne E. Rivet

Staff Writer

From first to eighth grade, Frank Howell walked from his family home on Pleasant Street down to Depot Street to school each day. He always felt the area could be so much more.

“The Magic Lantern was a slum and blight spot when we started. We demolished it when we built our new R&D Center back in 2005-06. It was frustrating to our family that this area wasn’t meeting its potential. It’s the geographic center of the town,” Howell said. “The community stepped forward and fully backed our request for a TIFF, enabling us to build this wonderful facility. We wanted to build something that was a symbol of pride.”

The Howell Family and Snapdragon LLC built one of Maine’s premium movie houses, and this week, the jewel of downtown became a little shinier.

After a lengthy fundraising drive and through the generosity of the Howell Family, the Magic Lantern has been sold to Maine 4-H Foundation to be the future home of the Innovation Lab and Learning Center.

“As much as we love the town and the Magic Lantern, the time has come for our family to do other things, to move on and do other projects. The idea to develop and Innovation Lab and Learning Center is outstanding,” Howell said. “The theater sits empty for hours every day. We built the facility with live performance and lecture stages with the idea it would be an asset to the town to bring in events. It’s been underutilized. The Innovation Lab and Learning Center is a great idea.”

Susan Jennings, Maine 4-Foundation executive director, credits the Howell Family for making this next chapter in the theater’s story possible. 

“We certainly want to make the public aware of the Howell Family and Snapdragon, LLC’s gift. This is huge. This is the biggest donation that the Maine 4-H Foundation has ever received,” Jennings said.

The fundraising target was $4 million. The Howell Family made a $2.97 million donation, leaving the remainder for Maine 4-H Foundation to raise.

“We took a risk moving forward because Covid put such a damper on our fundraising. Our other Learning Centers needed support, too. They had to close their doors because of Covid,” Jennings said. “We are still raising money as we build our educational programs. We haven’t reached the level where we need to be. We re-initiated this project four months ago. This is a self-supporting project, not funded by taxpayers’ dollars or UMaine. All of our Learning Centers are. They all have revenue generating means to keep the programming going.”

Jennings, whose parents reside in North Bridgton, emphasized that while some change is coming, people need not worry about losing the theater or restaurant.

“The theater is not changing. The restaurant is not changing. People will walk in and it will look the same. All the staff Frank hired are on board with us. Our intent is to operate the theater and restaurant the same way Frank has been operating it and add educational programs for the community. There is an emphasis on youth with 4-H but it doesn’t mean we are not going to do things for adults, we will,” she said. “Already, we’ve had professors reaching out, wanting to partner with the Magic Lantern, to present their research and other programs.”

The theater and restaurant will soon reopen once necessary licenses are secured, Jennings added.

Often, when one mentions “4-H,” the immediate mental picture is a child raising a cow or pig. 

“That’s what is visible at the fairs,” Jennings said. “We have roughly 30,000 kids involved in Maine 4-H. The animal science program, although incredibly valuable, is a fraction of that number. 4-H has really grown over the years to reach kids’ aspirations and goals and passions. Some of it is in the STEM areas, the arts, and clearly in animal science, but it’s not all that we do. We will support Senior College and early college programs and professional development for teachers. There is so much opportunity. We hope people will also be optimistic about what we can bring to the community.”

Reaching the Goal

Two years ago, the Maine 4-H Foundation launched a fund development campaign to purchase the Magic Lantern, a theater and restaurant on Depot Street in Bridgton, and expand the community engagement it offers with the development and creation of a 4-H innovation lab and learning center for youth. 

On Oct. 14, the Magic Lantern transferred ownership to the Maine 4-H Foundation to become a new 4-H Learning Center. The donation of the Magic Lantern is a $2.97 million donation, and a part of the major fund development work to create the new 4-H Learning Center.

The center, which will be led by University of Maine Cooperative Extension, will provide a hub of creative activity for rural youth in the Maine Lakes Region. It will open as soon as the new licenses are in place, which are expected in the coming weeks.

Under Maine 4-H Foundation ownership, the Magic Lantern will continue to offer a three-auditorium theater, a restaurant with movie projection capabilities and a venue for community engagement. The UMaine Extension 4-H youth development program will increase its educational offerings and outreach to schools and educational nonprofit organizations.

In addition, high school and college-age students will have opportunities to gain experience in theater, engineering, small business management, marketing and culinary arts, as well as make connections with local nonprofit and for-profit entities.

The goal is to have revenue from the Magic Lantern theater and restaurant support the building and fund local youth education and community programs, making the facility as self-sustaining as possible.

“Our intention has always been to promote entertainment, culture and education through the Magic Lantern. We lit the torch; 4-H and the University of Maine will continue to run with it. We couldn’t be happier,” said Howell.  

Snapdragon LLC owned the facility, which opened in February 2008 as a community center with state-of-the-art technology, including high-definition projection and sound systems. Both Snapdragon and the Howell family have made a tremendous donation in making this new project a reality, said Jennings.

In addition to Howell and Jennings, the planning team behind the project included a team of community volunteers and input from school superintendents, headmasters and nonprofit and foundation leaders and educators. 

Support for the $4 million fundraising campaign came from community members and businesses, the Kendal C. and Anna Ham Charitable Foundation, Bridgton-Lake Region Rotary, Web Granger Family, Chalmers Insurance Group, Norway Savings Bank, Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation, Stifler Family Foundation and dedicated 4-H donors.

Additionally, earlier this year, U.S. Sen. Angus King and U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree both advanced congressional earmark funding requests to support the Magic Lantern redevelopment project. The federal appropriations process is ongoing.

Fundraising will continue in support of community education and internship opportunities for youth. 

“This new 4-H learning center will grow to offer new and exciting programs for youth in the Lakes Region and connect with our statewide network of learning centers and county Extension offices,” says Maine 4-H Foundation president Carla Lafayette. “It is an incredible opportunity for the entire community and one we will continue to raise funds for as we expand programming.”

The new Magic Lantern 4-H Innovation Lab and Learning Center will focus on educational programming with an emphasis on cross-disciplinary learning, creative thinking and problem solving, says Jennings. The goal is to partner with the University of Maine Foster Center for Innovation. Visual and performing arts programming will include creative writing, play writing, film production, advertising and illustration. 

For programming focused on math, design and engineering, the center will partner with area businesses, such as Down East Innovation, RLC Engineering, UMaine, the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance, 4-H STEM Hubs and local schools — all of which are current participants in 4-H Youth Development programs statewide.

The overarching goal is to increase affordable educational opportunities for rural youth in western Maine, Jennings says.

“Young people growing up in rural Maine do not have the same opportunities and resources that other youth have in the urban areas of Maine,” says Jennings. “4-H has been engaged in experiential education pilot school programs for over 12 years and have successfully increased test scores, raised aspirations, increased attendance and engaged students in career-based learning. We look forward to partnering with this community and the region to offer UMaine programming that can make a difference in the lives of children, youth and their families.”

For more information or to contribute to the project, contact the Maine 4-H Foundation, 207.615.7300; susan.jennings@maine.edu. A video about the initiative is online, as is a donation link.