By Rick Wright

Staff Writer

The Fort Williams Advisory Commission has identified a short list of potential moneymaking ideas to help cover the cost of operating expenses and capital improvements at Fort Williams Park. 

The town needs to find alternative revenue sources for the park because a referendum to approve a pay/display parking fee system at the fort was rejected by voters June 8.

The measure was expected to raise $309,000 next year for the park but it was defeated by a margin of 68 to 32 percent.

“We’ve got to get interest in the park and keep it going so we can get monies to operate it,” said Town Councilor Jim Walsh, who is the council’s liaison to the commission. 

The commission pared a list of 25 options down to six. The six revenue-enhancing ideas include licensing the image of Portland Head Light; implementing a surcharge for the Beach To Beacon road race; converting more park buildings to rental use; charging for the use of fields; getting more money from the Portland Head Light Museum; and putting up more voluntary donation boxes. 

The commission will discuss the ideas in more detail next month and at a September meeting before sharing its recommendations with the town council at a joint workshop scheduled for Oct. 4. 

“Bring this to the workshop. You can work the details out and flush it out,” Walsh said. “I wouldn’t rush to a decision right now.”  

The commission started with a list of 40 ideas that were discussed at its June meeting and reduced to 25 for this month’s meeting. 

Most of the fundraising proposals came from Cape Elizabeth residents through public forums, town council meetings and e-mail. 

Commission Vice-Chairman Bill Nickerson suggested all ideas be judged by the following criteria: Whether they can be done in a short time and generate substantial revenue; whether the idea fits park character and complies with existing policies; and the number of people involved in and the level of complexity and risk of a potential park event.

Nickerson said the Beach To Beacon surcharge could meet all of the criteria quickly.

“They’re oversubscribed every year. So there must be some opportunity to raise the entry fee,” Nickerson said.  “We should look at what can be done in the shortest time frame and make the most money.”

Nickerson recommended raising the fee by $25. Walsh said he didn’t think it was right to ask race sponsors for another $25 per entrant because the town  already invoices the organizers for many other race-related services including police, fire and clean up.

Commission member Chuck Wilson preferred to look at the big picture and expressed concerns about the fort becoming too commercial. 

 “We’ve got to look at the long-term vision and say ‘what do we want this park to be?’ Do we want it to be Old Orchard Beach?” Wilson asked. 

Walsh advocated licensing some images of Portland Head Light. 

He said some angles of the lighthouse have never been sold commercially, such as photos taken from atop a crane.  

Town Manager Mike McGovern said he did not know if anyone currently has a copyright or license on the lighthouse images.

The Union Mutual Life Insurance Co. did use it for the firm’s corporate image some years ago, McGovern said.

“I’m not sure what they might have done to protect their logo,” McGovern said.

Cape Elizabeth Public Works Director Bob Malley told commissioners the community services department does charge fees for groups that use some fields in the town, such as Hannaford Field. However, very few groups are charged for using the fields at Fort Williams, Malley said.

Based on Malley’s comments, Wilson suggested the community services department should be responsible for charging rental fees for the fields at Fort Williams since it already does it for other fields in Cape Elizabeth.

Wilson said the park needs more  donation boxes and they should  be identified by larger signs to entice people to put money into the boxes.

The park currently has four donation boxes in the park, Malley said.

“You’ve got to almost trip them and make them put their hands in their wallets,” Wilson said. 

Wilson raised concerns about moving too fast on fundraising ideas, putting too many events in the park and causing damage by overuse.

He also was concerned about who would be responsible for planning, coordinating and organizing the activities. 

“I wonder if we aren’t selling our soul and totally changing the focus of the park,” Wilson said.