Saco Main Street

The Mission of Saco Main Street is to lessen the burden of local government by working with planning and development directors and local business to revitalize Saco’s Main Street and Downtown.

Saco Main Street is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, and was designated as a Main Street Maine Community by the Maine Downtown Center. The National Main Street Center is a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Saco is a former manufacturing hub located on the Saco River in southern Maine. In the mid to late 20th century, the mills closed and manufacturing ceased, leaving a downtown in need of revitalization. Today, Saco Main Street supports a vibrant, diversified economic mix of shops, restaurants, and small businesses along its Main Street. As a stop on the Amtrak Downeaster, Saco also attracts tourists from other parts of Maine and New England.

Saco Main Street, with an army of volunteers, creates and hosts large community events to attract visitors of all ages to downtown Saco, including our signature events: Saco Arts Festival (now in its 56th year), Music on Main, Pride in the Park, Paws Downtown, Pumpkin Harvest Festival, Main Street Market, Saco Bucks Saturday, and the annual Tree Lighting, Parade and Holiday Festival.

Through its Design Committee, Saco Main Street identifies and addresses "eyesores" along Main Street and in downtown and finds creative ways to beautify downtown spaces with color, flowers, light, and art, usually with the help of local artists, turning bleak spaces into gathering places.

Through its Economic Development Committee, Saco Main Street creates connections between and among small business owners and alerts them to available resources to help them grow and sustain their businesses. Wherever possible, business owners are invited to participate in downtown events. When a new business comes to town, Saco Main Street celebrates them with a ribbon cutting event to welcome them to town, along with announcements on social media and through word of mouth. New businesses are also invited to join our online business directory.

When Riverfront Park became a messy, dangerous, dark, overgrown park at the edge of downtown, Saco Main Street sprung into action, wrote grant proposals to multiple funders, and in 2025 were successful in turning Riverfront Park into a beautiful, safe, well-lit destination, complete with tables, chairs, sculptures and murals, and connected to the "Below the Falls" interactive walking tour along the Saco River that starts a few steps away from the park. This project has been named the Maine Downtown Center Project of the Year for 2026.

The goal of Saco Main Street is to make Saco a warm and inviting community in which to live, visit, or start a business.