CALAIS – The deluge of tourists that was expected to visit the Downeast Heritage Center has turned into a trickle.

Although 90,000 people were expected to visit the center annually, the numbers are way below that. On average about 50 people a day visit the building.

But the heritage center’s board of directors is tackling the problem head-on.

They plan to kick off a major capital campaign to pay off the remaining $2.1 million debt. They also plan to readjust visitor estimates to reflect a more realistic number and to change the hours the center will be open.

There are no plans to close the facility.

That was the message Wednesday night to members of the St. Croix Economic Alliance, landlords of the building.

The center opened with great fanfare earlier this year. More than 400 people got a peek at the exhibits that celebrate the historical significance of the Down East area.

That was the last big crowd.

Located between Union Street and the St. Croix River, the tall glass entry connects the former Calais Press building with a new building that invites the curious to explore beyond the glass doors.

The individual galleries are dedicated to local themes including the settlement of St. Croix Island, “Living with the Sea” and the history of the Passamaquoddy Tribe.

A “Living with the Land” exhibit was scheduled to open in June along with the other exhibits, but the promised $300,000 in federal funds to complete the display has not been forthcoming.

SEA member Darin McGaw said that although his group was on the hook for the monthly mortgage payments, the center’s board of directors was responsible for day-to-day operations.

It is the board that plans to kick off a capital campaign to pay off the debt. “Frankly, paying off that debt early would be a huge chunk of change,” McGaw said. “It would be about one-third of the budget, as far as yearly operations.”

They also hope to raise enough money to help offset the center’s operating expenses.

Part of the problem, McGaw said, was the downturn in tourism in Maine. “It looks like at this point that business is down in the area of tourism about 30 percent,” he said.

The board of directors plans to readjust the predicted attendance and build a budget around that.

They also plan to pursue bus tour groups. Right now tour buses pass through Calais on their way to Campobello Island and the Roosevelt-Campobello International Park. The directors want some of those buses to stop in Calais.

Eastport City Manager George “Bud” Finch, a member of SEA, said he visited Campobello Island last week. “The buses are there, they are coming through. They literally look for places to stop,” he said.

Assistant City Manager Jim Porter, who is president of SEA and a liaison to the center’s board of directors, said Thursday that although there were problems, the heritage center was an important addition to the city.

He said that although there is local support for the heritage center, the goal is to attract tourists. “We need to catch more of the tourists that are passing through and don’t know anything about the center,” he said.