494 Stevens Avenue, Portland, Maine 04103 10-6 Tuesday-Saturday • 10-2 Sunday observation hive and hobbyist beekeeping thehoneyexchange.com • 207-773-9333 all natural line of skincare products unique gifts, mead, wine and beer Light your home with beeswax candles! nine stones sPa ® M ay 2 0 1 7 5 9 welcome, yet found itself closed for busi- ness only 15 months later. “Places may come and go, but they bring visitors, attention, and other entre- preneurs to the area,” Harris says. “It’s an ecosystem.” Without the security of tourist hordes and cruise-ship crowds, the avenue will have to fight a little harder to secure its foot- hold. But those suffering from Old Port fa- tigue will find the street a welcome refresh- ment–think fewer people and knickknacks shops, more parking. In terms of sustain- ability, the area is united in its efforts. Hel- mick is in the process of establishing a Washington Avenue Collective; there are plans for a summer block party; and, less conventionally, an astonishing number of the new faces on the street are either new or expectant parents (among them, Fiore, Ter- lingua, Drifters Wife, Hardshore Distilling, and Cong Tu Bot)–“Don’t drink the water!” laughs Milne. If all else fails, perhaps we’ll see a new generation of designers, distillers, and restaurateurs taking up the mantle in years to come. Ecosystem indeed. n