A Bangor nonprofit aims to launch construction of a $6.5 million downtown Wabanaki Cultural Center this spring.
Wabanaki Public Health and Wellness will convert the first floor and mezzanine of 16 Central St. in downtown Bangor into a cultural center that caters to local youth and shares Indigenous culture with the region.
The space, which last held local retailer Epic Sports, is downstairs from the organization’s offices. Wabanaki Health and Wellness first leased the property after moving in early 2023, then bought the space in late 2024, according to Lisa Sockabasin, CEO of the nonprofit.
The cultural center will have a stage, a room to show Indigenous films and a commercial kitchen where people can sample Indigenous foods and share recipes. There will also be space for after-school youth programs, a rock climbing wall and an art exhibit, according to renderings of the project.
Once launched, the cultural center will breathe new life into a space in the heart of downtown Bangor that has sat largely empty since Epic Sports closed its doors in the fall of 2022. Since then, more businesses in the downtown have emptied as they moved or shuttered entirely.
Sockbasin said everyone will be welcome in the center, regardless of how much they know about the Indigenous people of Maine. Visitors also don’t have to be a citizen of the Wabanaki tribes to enjoy the center and take advantage of its resources.
“This cultural center is a place of connection for all community members, and it’s a place for us to learn from each other,” Sockabasin said. “Wherever you are in your journey of engaging and understanding Wabanaki principles, values and people, we have a place for you.”
The space will also be decorated with artistic representations of Maine’s natural resources, including a river, ocean and Katahdin, with information on the significance of each in Indigenous culture.
Pillars in the main room will be redesigned to look like types of trees that are significant to Wabanaki people, Sockabasin said. For example, one will look like a birch tree, which is used to make canoes.
The center will also have a cave with recreations of petroglyphs — pictures carved into rocks — made long ago by Indigenous people of Maine.
“These petroglyphs exist all across Maine,” Sockabasin said. “Many of these sites are protected, and we want to protect those petroglyphs, but they’re the stories of our ancestors, and we want to share them too.”
The $6.5 million project will be built in stages as the money is raised, Sockabasin said. The organization has secured more than $2 million — roughly a third of what they need — for the project through grants and individual donations.
A space for the after-school youth program, additional bathrooms and the commercial kitchen will be the first elements of the center to be finished, according to Sockabasin. Construction on those portions of the space will likely launch this spring and wrap up before the end of the year.
The center likely won’t be finished until the end of 2026, according to Sockabasin.
Throughout the construction phases, the organization will also continue to share the space with local groups who would like to hold a performance or need meeting space while the center is being developed. For example, Bangor Symphony Orchestra has already held concerts in the space and will perform there again this spring, Sockabasin said.
“We don’t look at this as our space,” Sockabasin said. “We look at it as the collective community space that it really should be, right in the heart of downtown Bangor. No matter if you have a house or not, a job or not, a name or not, you are welcome here.”
