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Letter: Dick Rex key to downtown’s revitalization
Op-Ed · January 12, 2017


News travels slowly before it reaches the wilderness of Downeast Maine, where I live, so it was only recently that I learned of the death of Dick Rex.


Back in the late 1980s, when I was researching and writing a National Register of Historic Places nomination for downtown West Branch, both Dick and his wife Audrey were active supporters of this effort, which resulted in 16 commercial buildings along Main and Oliphant streets being designated as a National Historic District.

When this work began, few people in West Branch considered it worth the time or the trouble.

From the bully pulpit of his hardware store, which was housed within the iconic Opera House Block on Oliphant Street, Dick joined other advocates like Vid Johnson, Lou Picek and John Kofoed in preaching the gospel of historic preservation as a means of downtown revitalization, with Dick single-handedly changing the minds of more than a few doubters who stopped by his store for roofing nails or stove pipe.

Fast-forward 30 years, and it’s clear that preservation has played an essential role in the commercial health and financial well-being of downtown.

Thanks for your help, Dick.

Tom Walsh

Gouldsboro, Maine