South Portland wants redevelopment ideas for five city-owned buildings

A multi-story brick building. with a lawn.

Photo / Courtesy City of South Portland Former Mahoney Middle School at 240 Ocean St.

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Over 500 people took part in two “building crawls” hosted over the past two weeks by the city of South Portland to invite people to share ideas for the redevelopment of five city-owned buildings.

“The goal of the building crawl was to invite residents into our buildings to see the problems first-hand, and provide input about what community spaces that would like to see as part of the proposed new City Center at Mahoney,” Shara Dee, the city’s communications officer, told Mainebiz.

Photo / Courtesy City of South Portland

City Hall at 25 Cottage Road

The event took in:

Former Mahoney Middle School at 240 Ocean St.
Central Fire Station and police station at 30 Anthoine St.
Main Library at 482 Broadway
City Hall at 25 Cottage Road
Former Hamlin School at 829 Sawyer St., used by the city’s planning and development department

City center

After six years of discussion, the South Portland City Council last year formed a volunteer ad hoc Mahoney City Center committee to create a plan to transform the former Mahoney Middle School into a vibrant civic and cultural hub.

A goal was to use the property to house certain municipal offices, as well as a performing arts space, a gymnasium and lecture and meeting spaces.

The council voted in September 2024 for the city to pursue the concept and approved a $74 million municipal campus proposal for the facility.

Mahoney Middle School closed in 2023. The 94,000-square-foot building dates to the 1920s. The Greater Portland Landmarks named the building to its "Places in Peril" list in 2017.

The renovated Mahoney City Center would include offices that are currently at city hall, Hamlin planning and development, the assessing building and the main library, with spaces designated for community use.

A new police station would be built at the Mahoney site, and the Central Fire Station would be rebuilt at its current location on Broadway.

Photo / Courtesy City of South Portland

Central fire station at 30 Anthoine St.

“The Mahoney site provides an opportunity to both solve the facilities problems and create a new hub for city services and community life in South Portland's downtown,” said Dee.

Vacated sites

The relocation of departments would create opportunities for redevelopment on sites that would be vacated, like the current City Hall.

Issues common across the buildings include aging, the need for major repairs and/or renovations. Issues include deteriorating mechanical and electrical systems, hazardous materials, damage from water intrusion, inefficient heating and cooling systems and a general inadequacy for today’s city functions. Most would fail to meet building codes, ADA requirements and fire safety standards

“These buildings all have major deficiencies and are in need of significant repairs and/or renovations,” said Dee.

Photo / Courtesy City of South Portland

Former Hamlin School at 829 Sawyer St., currently used by the city’s planning and development department

South Portland City Council, with input from the community, will determine what will happen to the sites vacated if the various functions consolidate at Mahoney.

“There is potential for redevelopment and housing creation,” noted Dee.

Community spaces

For the Mahoney project, the city hired Colliers, a commercial real estate firm, as an owner's representative to manage the project and brought SMRT Architects & Engineers on board to lead the design.

“Over the next several months, we will be inviting the community to provide input on what kinds of community spaces they would like to see as part of a new city center,” said Dee.

A single-story building with bushes out front.

Photo / Courtesy City of South Portland

The South Portland Public Library is located at 482 Broadway

The committee and SMRT will consider public input received during the crawl, along with other engagement events this fall, to create conceptual designs for the facilities.

The designs will be put forward for the committee, the city council and the public to consider later this year or early 2026.

It’s expected that the council will vote on a final design and bond amount by July 2026.

A referendum is tentatively planned for November 2026 for South Portland residents to vote on the bond.

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