Preservation Portland
With this in mind we ask our Instagram followers to show us the character of Greater Portland via its doorways in our first Instagram contest. Doorways that catch your eye from a distance, up-close door details and craftsmanship, decorated doors, barn doors, modest and grand doors- we want to see them all.
*Make sure to Like your favorite entries and tell your friends to like yours. There is a prize for most likes!*
Read the blog to learn all the rules and guidelines.
From Friday, October 21 – Monday, October 31, the Longfellow House hosts a haunted house. They even have two levels of spooky. Based on Longfellow's poem, "Haunted Houses" the event evokes the various family members that died in the Wadsworth-Longfellow House over its long history. Two tours will be offered this year; one for families and one for adults. Treats and drinks will be served. For more information, tour times, and tickets go here.
The First Lecture in the Greater Portland Landmarks Lecture series is History in Your Own Backyard: The cultural landscape seen every day and the evolving changes in garden design. The talk will be given by award winning Historic Landscape Specialist, Lucinda Brockway. October 25, 6-7 pm, Rines Auditorium, Portland Public Library, 5 Monument Square. This lecture is free and open to the public. A $10 donation is suggested and appreciated. For more information about the event click here. Looking forward to the lecture? Read the cover article from the last observer on our blog.
As long as people have built houses in North America, they have also planted gardens. Some plantings are decorative, some are designed to supply cooks with vegetables and herbs. And all were subject to the limits of climate and fashion.
View of Fort Sumner on Munjoy Hill by Charles Goodhue from the Maine Historical Society
Have you ever visited Fort Sumner Park to watch the sun set over Portland? A proposed development below the park on Sheridan Street is focusing attention on the history of the park. If you'd like to learn more about the history of the fort that once sat atop Munjoy Hill, check out this history of Fort Sumner by local historian Ken Thompson in the Munjoy Hill Observer.
Thomas B. Reed School, Portland from the Portland Press Herald
Vacant for several years, the City has been working with developers and neighbors to find a new use that is compatible with neighborhood goals and economically feasible. Developers Collaborative, the developers responsible for the successful adaptive reuse project for the former Nathan Clifford School in Deering's Oakdale neighborhood have developed a plan to reuse the Reed School as a pre-school for special needs students. Read more about the proposal here.
This summer Greater Portland Landmarks was fortunate to have two interns, Liz King and Anastasia Azenaro-Moore. Surveying Portland’s Oakdale neighborhood was their major collaboration and not only did they record important information about this unique neighborhood, they also had an opportunity share knowledge and experience with each other. They both observed that the city is trying to understand the same questions they tackle in their academic studies: how and where do historic preservation, gentrification, housing, and public use all collide? Landmarks was lucky to spend a summer with these dynamic women and the future of historic preservation looks bright.
As communities grow and change, school buildings also need to evolve with the people they are built to serve. In greater Portland there are many examples of school buildings being re-purposed and their architecture and social significance celebrated once again. Now that school is back in session we want to highlight these schools.
In the 1960s Portland lost two great architectural landmarks, with the destruction of Union Station on St. John Street and the Grand Trunk Railroad Station on India Street. With the decline in passenger rail service in the 1960s, both stations were made obsolete. Union Station was replaced by a shopping center, while the Grand Trunk Railroad site is now occupied by a pumping station. The loss of these unique landmarks continues to energize many Portlanders to preserve the city’s historic buildings.
Portland Press Herald Image by Derek Davis/staff photographer
The Independent Order of Odd Fellows' building is an architectural landmark on Forest Avenue. The Odd Fellows continue to serve as outstanding stewards, maintaining the large masonry structure designed by Francis Fassett in 1897. The building has served as the Odd Fellows Hall, a Masonic Temple, Deering's City Hall, a school for neighborhood students, and a host of commercial tenants in its 120-year history. The historic building is even more impressive with the recent restoration of the clock tower. Read more about the Odd Fellows and the clock tower project in a recent Portland Press Herald Article here.
Make your voice heard and help the Public Art Committee decide which of three sculptures should be located in a new park in front of Odd Fellows Hall. The comment period closes August 26th.
For more advocacy updates, visit the Ongoing Issues page.
Duck Pond Corner, a former rural village in Westbrook is bisected by one of the state’s busiest transportation corridors, Route 302. The Intersection of Duck Pond and Hardy Roads with Route 302 is a high-crash site and the Maine Department of Transportation (DOT) is proposing a roundabout to make the intersection safer. However, local residents are concerned about the amount of land needed for a roundabout and the impact a roundabout might have on the historic buildings adjacent to the intersection. Greater Portland Landamarks is working with Westbrook’s Duck Pond Historic District Committee to document historic resources in the area where the Maine DOT is proposing a new roundabout and to create a National Register Historic District in the village. Below is a picture of a community presentation on Westbrook's history from keepmecurrent.com
