Central Maine Event Center Closing Permanently

In addition to all of the death and turmoil, the pandemic upended so many great businesses.  And, it appears, that trend continues.

According to the KJ, The Elm event center will close its doors permanently.

The owner of the building. Bill Mitchell, bought the old Bourque-Lanigan American Legion Post 5 at 21 College Avenue in 2017.  Following major renovations and updates, he opened the 11,000 square foot building as an amazing event center in 2019.

Sadly, after hosting only a few shows and events, the pandemic struck.  In March of 2020, they had several shows and concerts on the schedule for the spring and summer of 2020.  All of those shows were immediately canceled or postponed.  It was many months before venues in Maine were allowed to host events again.  And, even after event spaces were allowed to reopen, concerns about the virus (and the pandemic restrictions) kept many people from attending shows or having events.

Sadly, it appears that The Elm was never able to bounce back.

There is one bright spot, though.  According to the Kennebec Journal article, it appears the first floor of the building will see a new life as the home of a local business.  While Mitchell would not release the name of the business that was looking at leasing the space, he did say that they would employ about fifty people at that location.

He also said that the Waterville City Council chambers and First Congregational United Church of Christ would continue to use the space for meetings.