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Redeveloped mill and church among four ‘smart growth’ projects honored

An aerial view shows buildings and a river. Photograph / Courtesy Reveler Development The Levee in Biddeford was one of four Maine Smart Growth awardees last month.
By Laurie Schreiber

A multi-phase redevelopment of an industrial site along the Saco River in Biddeford was recognized as a model for “smart growth.”

The Levee, led by Reveler Development, was one of four recipients of GrowSmart Maine’s eighth annual Maine Smart Growth Awards. 

My Place Teen Center received an exemplary smart growth project award for the remediation of a once-abandoned church at 75 Bacon St. in Biddeford.

The city of Rockland was recognized for developing an outstanding smart growth housing plan and Mainers for Smarter Transportation received an award for its grassroots advocacy.

The awards, recognizing diverse activities that contribute to smart growth and serving as real-life illustrations of the benefits it can bring, were presented at the GrowSmart Maine Summit in October.

“These recipients stood out in an incredibly competitive pool of nominations,” said Nancy Smith, CEO of GrowSmart Maine. “This underscores the abundance of plans, projects, policies and practitioners around Maine that have centered smart growth outcomes as a guiding star.”

Less sprawl, more repurposing

The Levee includes Lofts on the Levee converted from historic Saco-Lowell Mill into 96 modern apartments and the Foundry, a former warehouse converted into a hub for arts, culture and entrepreneurship. With support from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Brownfields program, contaminated sites were cleaned and restored.

Smart growth principles included compact design, adaptive reuse and walkable connections to Biddeford’s RiverWalk, downtown and the Saco Transportation Center, Amtrak and local transit. The Levee provides market-rate and workforce condos, townhomes and apartments, easing pressure on surrounding open space and reducing sprawl. Where once there were vacant, polluted buildings, there are now streetscapes, solar-powered rooftops and community spaces.

My Place Teen Center opened its second location at 75 Bacon St. after repurposing the historic St. Andre’s Church. The 17,000-square-foot building, once crumbling and empty, now welcomes teens ages 10 to 18 with food, mentoring and enrichment programs—all free of charge. 

Rather than building new and sprawling outward, the project embodied smart growth principles by reinvesting in and renovating an existing downtown infrastructure, preserving historic architecture and creating a community anchor in a walkable neighborhood, GrowSmart said.

Where there were broken pews and pigeons, there are now custom-built tables crafted from reclaimed wood. Partnerships with city leaders, contractors and community members made the $4.5 million renovation possible.

Jim Godbout, the owner of Provencher Fuels and Jim Godbout Plumbing & Heating Inc. in Biddeford is a longtime volunteer for organizations including My Place Teen Center. For the Westbrook-based nonprofit, he was the general contractor on the $3.7 million transformation of St. Andre’s Church into a second teen center. Godbout is a 2025 Mainebiz Business Leader of the Year.

Two people sit on the steps of a stone building.
FILE PHOTO / JIM NEUGER
Donna Dwyer, president and CEO of My Place Teen Center, at the new location in Biddeford, with Jim Godbout, the general contractor on the $3.7 million project.

The city of Rockland was recognized for developing an “outstanding smart growth plan.” Rockland passed a municipal housing bond to invest in utilities, roads, and other public infrastructure that clears the way for pocket neighborhoods, mixed-use nodes and more downtown housing along Main Street. The plan discourages sprawl and protects open space, said GrowSmart, adding that Rockland’s housing bond is a model for other towns.

Mainers for Smarter Transportation was recognized for grassroots advocacy in relation to the Maine Turnpike Authority’s proposal to build a five-mile, $331 million expansion  called the Gorham Connector. After lobbying town councils and winning votes in Westbrook and Scarborough, the effort effectively halted the project, said GrowSmart.

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