BANGOR, Maine — The City of Bangor is welcoming a new art installation downtown.
Dozens of umbrellas will hang over Cross Street from now until October. The piece is a part of the global Umbrella Sky project first unveiled in Agueda, Portugal in 2011.
Bangor’s adaptation is the result of a joint effort between Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center — which recently launched its "#How Are you?” campaign — and the Downtown Bangor Partnership.
“We’re creating a space to draw attention to self-care, but also create a community [gathering] and a focal point.” Betsy Lundy, the executive director of the Downtown Bangor Partnership, said Tuesday.
Lundy also hopes the installation will stimulate business downtown, where there are still some vacant storefronts.
“We’ve already had property owners tell us that they’ve already had people reaching out to fill some of those empty spaces that are here on the corner and around the corner at Columbia Street,” Lundy said.
As construction gets underway — it shouldn’t last more than two days at most — business owners are starting to take notice.
Rick Vigue is the owner of Rebecca’s, a home goods boutique a few blocks away from the project on Maine Street. A gregarious gray-haired man, he says that business has been good this summer and that a piece of public art will make the city a destination.
“As long as they advertise well, I think the tourists are going to really enjoy it. You know, it kind of puts Bangor on the map.” Vigue said from his store on Tuesday.
Northern Light and the Downtown Bangor Partnership are hosting a launch party for the Sky of Umbrellas installation on Monday at 4:30 p.m. near the intersection of Cross and Main streets.