BIDDEFORD — Engine is looking for a new home and a new direction as the arts venue prepares to take its leave from its downtown Biddeford location at the end of the month.

The maker space and gallery housed at 163 Main St. has until Oct. 31 to vacate. The landlord, Richard Levy, said the property is not publicly on the market, but he’s in talks with a potential buyer who wants to attract retailers and apartment-dwellers.

“I don’t have a firm offer yet,” Levy said.

The decision was far from sudden: Levy said he gave Engine “a couple years’ notice” before deciding to sell. Engine’s Acting Director Sarah Lafortune said the 501(c)3 nonprofit was notified about a year ago that it would have to find a new home after Levy, who divides his time between Biddeford Pool and New Mexico, announced he was putting the building up for sale.

“We’ve been looking for space, but we didn’t look right away,” Lafortune said during a phone interview, as the organization wanted to drill down on “who we are and who we serve.”

Banking on Engine

Levy said he acquired the property six years ago in a trade with the former Bank of America building, with the original idea of opening a restaurant or boutique hotel on Main Street.

(Downtown Biddeford) hadn’t really taken off like it has now,” Levy said. “It’s happening now, but I’m just not a developer.”

Levy said he initially supported Engine as a way to support the city as a whole. He said he rented out 163 Main St. at a greatly reduced price – about a quarter of the market rate – but now finds he’s losing money just on the taxes and upkeep.

“It’s a good building; it’s good for downtown and for Biddeford,” Levy said. “This really isn’t about Engine at all.”

He added that Lafortune is doing a “great job” as acting director and he’d “love to see them succeed.”

When Engine founder Tammy Ackerman was asked about her reaction to the move from Main Street, she said, “Not having a visible, physical presence for the arts downtown contradicts everything that the founders held as essential to the organization’s values and core mission. The organization has become a shadow of its former self, having suffered from a lack of engaged and thoughtful leadership for the past few years, which saddens me immensely.”

Lafortune responded by saying, “We greatly appreciate the vision Tammy had in founding Engine and the energy she brought to the arts community. Since her departure from the organization in 2019, the city has experienced a global pandemic and skyrocketing real estate costs.”

She continued: “This decentralized approach is in response to external factors, but also allows Engine to weave its offerings into spaces people frequent and fuel the arts community in a new, exciting way.

 “Through this approach, Engine hopes to expand beyond a single gallery space, bringing artists to the public, and soon the community will start seeing more and more events ‘powered by Engine.’"

Starting the ‘engine’

Engine was founded in 2010 by Tammy Ackerman, the first executive director who served until 2020; Maine author and former journalist Joshua Bodwell along with Stephen Abbott spearheaded the initial search for grant funding. Jessica Muise replaced Ackerman as executive director and Lafortune took the helm when Muise left a few months ago. The 163 Main St. location is not the first for the arts venue, which was previously located at Elements coffee and book shop on Main Street, and then at 128 Main St., across from the Marble Block.

Engine will not only be losing gallery and maker space on Main: the onsite darkroom was shuttered in July, according to Tina Johnson, the former director of Darkroom@engine. Johnson penned a column this summer on Engine’s website to tout the value of the darkroom to the community, saying she hosted 100 intro classes and several others over the past seven years.

“What started out as a small project blossomed into a garden of magical moments I wouldn’t trade for anything,” Johnson wrote. “The gratitude and appreciation for those who have helped build this space with either money, time or materials is unmeasurable. We made it through a move during a pandemic and the need for hands-on image making was highlighted when membership not only doubled but tripled, and has continued to stay that way.”

Search party

As the search continues for a new home, Engine will also be considering its needs and budget in the interim, Lafortune said.

Despite the order to vacate, Lafortune says the organization will remain a vital part of downtown Biddeford, with the hope to restart IGNITE Arts Business Incubator, a program that supports makers, manufacturers, artists and creative service providers that was first offered in 2021.

Engine is also looking for downtown office space where it can hold board meetings and determine how to serve the arts community in a “decentralized way,” Lafortune said.

That could mean partnering with area businesses to showcase the work of local artists.

“We’ll figure out office-wise some space offered by downtown businesses for board meetings … and hosting maker space or looking for existing space,” Lafortune said.

The board is also looking to hire a liaison for programming that is still needed by the artistic community.

As for Lafortune, she’s not going anywhere – at least, not yet.

Lafortune said she “knew we were going to be losing space” when she was hired as the interim executive director In January 2023, (she was later named acting) after Muise  stepped down.

She plans to “see the transition through and strategize a plan with the board.”

“The creative economy is so important to the vitality of Biddeford and this move by no means signals an end of Engine,” Lafortune said in a Sept. 29 release. “Engine has been, and will continue to be, an organization that fuels this creative spirit, supports artists and provides a platform for vibrant events downtown.”

Coming events at Engine

• yART sale: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 14 and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday to help downsize everything from art and supplies to furniture and fixtures. Lafortune called it “an excellent opportunity … to buy high-quality art supplies at a fraction of the market price and support Engine in the process.” Volunteers are needed to help sort, set up and staff the event; email director@feedtheengine.org.

• Biddeford ArtWalk: 4-8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 20. Winners of a raffle for two handcrafted wooden row boats, conducted by The Compass Project, an Engine program, will be drawn. Tickets will be available for $10 each during ArtWalk, or through Venmo @enginebiddo with the note “boat raffle” for a digital entry.

• Common Roots Studio’s Art Bus: Sponsored by Engine, the bus will be at Sacred Profane Brewing, 50 Washington St., Biddeford, on Saturday, Oct. 21 from 5 to 10 p.m.