The planning board of Westbrook, Maine, unanimously approved plans for the construction of the state’s first community center serving Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Tuesday night.

Led by the Cambodian community group Khmer Maine and the Cambodian Buddhist Watt Samaki Temple, plans include the construction of a a new Cambodian Buddhist worship hall, temple, and Asian American community center on over 30 acres of land, Mainebiz reported.

The goals for the center are to house organizations valuable to the well-being of Mainers and increase accessibility to legal services, translation, citizenship support, and other important community resources, according to Khmer Maine.

“Looking forward, as more migration happens, as the communities continue to grow and have families and buy homes and build businesses, an Asian American and Pacific Islander community center made sense,” president and founder of Khmer Maine Marpheen Chann told Mainebiz earlier this year.

With the project approved, Khmer Maine is now raising $5 million in funds for the project and is projected to take about 5 years to complete, WMTW reported. Khmer Maine is accepting donations to support their goal.

AsAmNews is published by the non-profit, Asian American Media Inc. Follow us on Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to support our efforts to produce diverse content about the AAPI communities. We are supported in part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library in partnership with the California Department of Social Services and the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs as part of the Stop the Hate program. To report a hate incident or hate crime and get support, go to CA vs Hate.

Related