Reached late on Saturday, Michael Bourque, president of the Children's Theatre of Maine, said the merger between the nation's oldest children's theater and the Children's Museum of Maine is the best solution for the theater's financial woes.

"It provides a future for the mission of the organization, and strengthens both organizations," said Bourque, who helped navigate the theater through a financial morass that almost saw the theater shutter its operations for good.

The merger became official earlier in December, and Bourque said he is thrilled with the outcome.

"It pleases me, it pleases our board, and the people who have been loyal to the theater for a number of years are pleased, as well," he said.

The new organization will be known as the Children's Museum and Theatre of Maine. The museum took the theater under its wings in 2007, allowing the theater to present plays in the basement of the museum after the theater gave up is rented home on Marginal Way at the end of 2006.

With the merger now official, the museum's executive director, Suzanne Olson, said the organization will consider an expansion of its Free Street building that would provide dedicated space for theater productions.

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