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PHOTO: The logo for the Franco Center has a new fresh look after the board unanimously approved its use at a meeting March 22. (Submitted photo)
LEWISTON — The name Franco Center, with the tagline “performing arts & events,” was unanimously made the official name of the venue by the center’s board at a March 22 meeting.
“Over the past three months, dozens of logos have been designed by staff with board input after the community’s outcry over the building’s name change,” Penny Drumm, Franco Center administrator, said. The winning logo design was also selected during the board meeting.
The nonprofit organization was established in 2000 with the legal name Franco-American Heritage Center, at the former St. Mary’s Church, which closed that year.
In its 23 years of operation, many logos and names on the building have been used, but center officials say that its mission, vision and values have remained the same.
A recent name change to Riverfront-Franco Center caused an outcry among area residents who were concerned it reflected a move away from the focus on Franco American heritage.
The board and staff of the center want to reassure the community that the focus on that heritage remains as strong as ever, according to a news release. Center officials also hope those who protested the name change will show their support for the center, which has experienced a loss in audience from both the decline in the area’s Franco American population and the COVID-19 pandemic.
“All one has to do is attend an event or take a tour, scroll through its blog posts and website, and read its social media posts to realize that the staff and board take the Franco American heritage very seriously,” Denise Scammon, marketing/development director, said.
The brief use of “Riverfront” in the center’s name also reflects local history, center officials said. Lewiston has been called River City, and a long-time plan is still under discussion by the city to call the Franco Center’s neighborhood, which is bordered by the Androscoggin River and canals, Riverfront Island.
“There is a definite link that cannot be denied between the French Canadian immigrants who came to Lewiston and the river that powered the mills they came to work in,” the news release said. “That river and its power supported their families’ daily needs. When St. Mary’s parish was established in 1905, and then again as other parishes were established and parish boundaries were declared, St. Mary’s was bordered by the riverfront. Its parishioners were referred to as the people living on the banks of the river.”
The recent short-lived name change reflects the change in demographics in the community.
“As the number of Franco Americans who live in the community and support the nonprofit’s mission has declined, staff and board were acting progressively to reach a wider audience that will attend its events and donate to the center,” Drumm said.
She added, “Staff and board members hope that the people who were so vocal about the name change on the building take a moment to make a donation and show their support for the nonprofit’s mission work.”
