Director's Bio:
(excerpted from an article by Ward Peck, while a reporter with the Biddeford-Saco-OOB Courier)

Rachael Weyand, a Kennebunk native and graduate of the College of Charleston in SC, was hired on Jan. 5, 2005 as the first Executive Director of the Heart of Biddeford. Weyand's degree is in historic preservation and community planning. She describes Charleston as the birthplace of the urban revitalization movement making it the perfect setting to pursue her degree.

Weyand is very familiar with Biddeford. Her grandmother was born and raised here. She is excited to pursue her career in a place with which she shares an intimate connection. “You always care the most about the place where you grew up." says Weyand, "There’s a huge amount of personal relevance and importance.”

Weyand said she recognized Biddeford’s potential as a vital downtown while still in high school. “My friends and I would go to Portland to hang out in coffee shops and the like, I always though Biddeford had the potential to be the same kind of destination.”

The Heart of Biddeford is modeled on the Main Street Maine program, which envisions downtowns as “pedestrian malls,” and seeks to present the downtown itself as a destination, rather than any one single business, creating a friendly, safe, clean environment for people to come and enjoy themselves. The Heart of Biddeford received its Main Street Maine designation in the fall of 2006, one of 8 other Maine communities to receive such a coveted designation.

Weyand sees Biddeford as well-positioned to benefit from the Main Street Maine program. “The mayor and city council are really supportive, the town is beautiful and in great shape and the Heart of Biddeford is well organized and funded. We have all the ingredients,” she said.

Weyand welcomes anyone interested in the Heart of Biddeford to visit her at the HOB office, located next to the City Theater.