The Portland-based Libra Foundation’s decision to cut off funding for two Aroostook County ski areas means their communities will have to work to keep them going.
The foundation announced on Nov. 12 that it would close Presque Isle’s Nordic Heritage Outdoor Center in December and owner Pineland Farms of New Gloucester would seek other uses for the property.
Just days later, Libra handed off the Fort Kent Outdoor Center, which it and Pineland Farms also funded and owned, to the mostly volunteer group that operates it.
While Fort Kent is keeping its center running, Presque Isle is still coming to grips with the impending loss of public biking, hiking and ski trails and a large venue that has hosted everything from international biathlon competitions to community events. A group has formed to try to keep the center open.
The difference between the two sites is that Fort Kent had strong leadership and a plan, but Presque Isle didn’t, Libra Executive Vice President Erik Hayward said.
“In Fort Kent, community leaders embraced the Fort Kent Outdoor Center and developed and executed a long-term plan for local ownership and management,” he said Tuesday. “It was our hope that a similar model might work in Presque Isle, but the community group ultimately dissolved.”
At that point, the Presque Isle Recreation Department stepped in as the operator, but the city model did not work, Hayward said. Without a viable operator, the Nordic Heritage Outdoor Center could not continue.
Declining use and rising operating costs also played into the closure decision, Libra said last week in a social media post.
The nonprofit foundation was founded in 1989 to jump-start ventures until organizations or communities can take over. Libra has funded enterprises throughout Maine, including Bangor’s Pineland Farms Dairy cheese plant and the Monson Gallery Store.
There’s no specific time limit for funding since each project is different, Hayward said.
He declined to say why Libra let go of the two Aroostook sites in a short timeframe. Libra created and funded the Fort Kent and Presque Isle centers for nearly 25 years, during which thousands of people have used them for Nordic skiing, snowshoeing, mountain biking and more, he said.
The foundation has participated in other outdoor ventures that now stand on their own, having redeveloped Black Mountain in Rumford and BigRock in Mars Hill before turning them over to community leadership, he said.
“Both ski areas have had and continue to have significant success,” he said.
BigRock has garnered grants and donations for significant upgrades, including a new quad chairlift, which will allow it to welcome more skiers than ever.
Officials at Pineland Farms did not immediately respond to requests for comment on their plans for the Nordic Heritage Outdoor Center.
The nine-member volunteer board that oversees the Fort Kent Outdoor Center will start an endowment to fund some programming. The transfer didn’t surprise the group since Libra is a seed generator, starting enterprises and turning them over, board member Carl Theriault said earlier this week.
Libra’s history with County Nordic skiing started in 1999, when it founded the Maine Winter Sports Center to construct the Presque Isle and Fort Kent venues. Pineland Farms, also funded by Libra, became the owner of both ski areas in 1999.
In 2015, MMG Insurance and The Aroostook Medical Center (now Northern Light A.R. Gould Hospital) came on as financial supporters of Nordic Heritage, with the facility run by volunteers.
The Presque Isle Recreation and Parks Department took over the park’s management in 2021.
Recreation and Parks officials were not available for comment.
Chris Condon of Presque Isle has been coming to the center since it opened, and his children grew up being part of it. He has no hard feelings about the closure because it was expected at some time, and is grateful for all the center brought to the area, he said.
Since news of the closure broke, local residents have taken to social media to share what the center has meant to them and make appeals to save it. Condon hopes the community will pour their passion into helping it survive, which will mean raising around $150,000 a year based on its financial history, he said.
The center would need more individual memberships, corporate support and the community would have to find more ways to use it, Condon said.
A grassroots movement has already started with a new Facebook page, Friends of the Nordic Heritage Center, he said. As of Wednesday, the group had 263 members, but no specific plan yet.
One of the most immediate questions is what school cross-country ski teams will do when Nordic Heritage’s gates close on Dec. 1.
Condon has assisted Coach Heidi Bartley’s cross-country team at Presque Isle Middle School. The loss of the center will mean going to Aroostook State park or to Caribou, and is a step backward in continuity of the ski programs, he said.
“I’m just incredibly appreciative of what Libra has done — a $10 or $15 million investment in our community that has had just an incredible impact on so many,” Condon said. “We need to fill the gap. There’s going to be a gap that the community needs to figure out how to support.”
