Port of entry at Coburn Gore gears up for redesign
Courtesy / U.S. General Services Administration
A redesign of the Coburn Gore land port of entry, at the northwest corner of Maine, is gearing up.
Maine’s westernmost port of entry, in the northern town of Coburn Gore, was awarded $760,350 for pre-design services for a land port of entry modernization and expansion project.
The U.S. General Services Administration awarded a contract for architectural and engineering services for the project to Dattner Architects of New York City.
The port was built in 1932 and occupies 1.38 acres. The estimated cost for the rebuild is $85 million to $95 million. The money came through Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The port facility is occupied by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection. The goal of the redesign is to assist CBP’s mission to more efficiently carry out its mission at the border crossing between Coburn Gore and Woburn, Quebec.
Coburn Gore is a unorganized township in Franklin County on the border with Canada. It has a small village.
Construction goals include providing a long-lasting and durable facility that is sustainable and climate resilient, with 80% fossil fuel-energy generated reduction, low maintenance and operating costs.
There will be a new administration building, pedestrian processing lanes, primary building, passenger vehicle lanes and commercial vehicle inspection area. The project will help improve traffic flow and border security while decreasing wait times for travelers.
The project is expected to help strengthen the supply chain, create good-paying jobs, enhance safety and security, and serve as a model of sustainability.
When completed, the project is expected to provide for the efficient flow of current and projected traffic volumes.
Construction is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2026, with completion estimated to be in the fall of 2028.
GSA provides centralized procurement and shared services for the federal government, managing a nationwide real estate portfolio of nearly 370 million rentable square feet, overseeing approximately $75 billion in annual contracts, and delivering technology services that serve millions of people across dozens of federal agencies.
Coburn Gore is one of five land ports of entry along Maine's border with Canada have received $150 million in federal funding for modernization projects and new construction.
The other are Calais-Ferry Point, Fort Fairfield, Limestone and Houlton.
The border stations are the facilities that manage the entry into or departure from the United States for people and goods. The stations house the U.S. Customs and Border Protection offices and other federal inspection agencies responsible for the enforcement of federal laws.
The Maine land ports are among 26 nationwide that will be funded through the infrastructure law. The average land port of entry is nearly 40 years old and long overdue for upgrades, according to the GSA.
Currently, there are 167 border stations along the U.S. boundaries with Canada and Mexico. The GSA owns and operates 102 of these, and the rest are either owned and operated by the CBP or are leased to the government by local governments or private entities.
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