Potential Soccer Stadium | Portland peninsula

[Portlander]

Attendance was just shy of 5800 for a sell out in the pouring rain.

 

[Redfern]

 

[Seanflynn78]

Great crowd on hand at Fitzy! Are there plans to expand the capacity for soccer games? I know the old capacity was over 6k for American Football.

Pawtucket's new soccer stadium is a diamond in the rough and holds nearly 11k. I know URI may play their 2026 home games there when Meade has their East stands replaced. Portland will benefit from a larger stadium, and deserves one.

I hope we can get a UMaine football game down in Portland, possibly against UNH. I know they played Delaware at Fitzy years ago. Regardless, the upgrades will help Portland in the pro sports department.

 

[PWMFlyer]

It's a now a wait and see after this season if improvements continue with additional seating, large video screen, additional concessions, etc. The city needs a long-term plan for the sports complex and the first thing that needs to be addressed is parking! Central garage, addition to the ice rink and a training facility sponsored by new balance

 

[TC_zoid]

It's a now a wait and see after this season if improvements continue with additional seating, large video screen, additional concessions, etc. The city needs a long-term plan for the sports complex and the first thing that needs to be addressed is parking! Central garage, addition to the ice rink and a training facility sponsored by new balance

USM garages are a 5 min walk with over 2,000 spaces.

 

[Redfern]

@Redfern , you guys did it! Congratulations!

We did it!!! Can you believe how long ago we started this post???!!! Fitzy looked great. Realizing the track wasn’t as problematic in broadcast as we thought. Of course I would love to do more but we just need to settle in for a bit and focus on winning. Hope whoever went had a great experience and is excited for more!!! ~ C

 

[Portlander]

Eventually replacing the bleachers with real seating would be marvelous!

 

[TC_zoid]

Eventually replacing the bleachers with real seating would be marvelous!

It will be a fight, but the track needs to go to make it an ideal soccer stadium. Make this year really great for community and perhaps over the winter break propose that, but with adding something else the opposition will like. The benefit to a fully realized soccer stadium outweighs the idea of inclusion of a track used only for high school. But you probably already have this planned. I'd do that and get USM to participate and build up its soccer programs.

 

[GIL]

We did it!!! Can you believe how long ago we started this post???!!! Fitzy looked great. Realizing the track wasn’t as problematic in broadcast as we thought. Of course I would love to do more but we just need to settle in for a bit and focus on winning. Hope whoever went had a great experience and is excited for more!!! ~ C

Congratulations, @Redfern — We so often read here about many great ideas that don’t come to life, but your team has delivered (at least) two major projects over the last 12 months that have significant improvements to the quality of life in Portland. That’s worth noting and celebrating. BRAVO

Wishing you many continued successes!

 

[TC_zoid]

Watching the game on ESPN+ at the moment. Everything looks great but… The rec dept has now ruined the integrity of the new soccer field by mandating its high school football field lines. I guess that was the deal. It really does distract and take away with the television viewing experience.

 

[NR2Portland]

View attachment 14895

Agree with you.
What could have been… that project that took the park away along back cove finally seems to be finishing up too so I can’t imagine this location would ever happen. Would have been an unreal setting for a really impressive team.
They’ve done well with Fitzy. Great atmosphere.

 

[mainejeff]

Congrats to Gabe, Jonathan, Catherine, Tom....coaches, players and Hearts of Pine Nation...on setting the USL League One attendance record on Tuesday night....6,440!

Hearts of Pine roll to win for record-setting crowd

Portland's soccer team keeps its hopes of a home playoff game alive and sets a franchise record for goals in a game.

www.pressherald.com

 

[Redfern]

Congrats to Gabe, Jonathan, Catherine, Tom....coaches, players and Hearts of Pine Nation...on setting the USL League One attendance record on Tuesday night....6,440!

Hearts of Pine roll to win for record-setting crowd

Portland's soccer team keeps its hopes of a home playoff game alive and sets a franchise record for goals in a game.

www.pressherald.com

Thank you so much!!! Can you believe how great it’s been???? Lots of future planning floating around in my head! ~C

 

[TC_zoid]

The deal is done with Kraft, the city of Boston, and the city of Everett. Maybe the Hearts can get some heart from the city and private investment? 12,000 seats? I'd shoot for 15,000 with the field adding another 3-4 so now it doubles as a venue for concerts (and bigger than Bangor's). Soccer is here to stay and transform and grow. Hearts have proven that.

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[TC_zoid]

Portland needs its "sugar daddy" (i.e., Robert Kraft). There is more than enough room for a 15,000-20,00 seat stadium. Watch the video for Everett's waterfront transformation and argument. Makes total sense. And didn't an investor couple buy some of the surrounding area where the tanks are? And incentivize Exxon to sell its largely empty tanks. It would become quite the community fun spot with shuttle boats going across the harbor to the Maine State Pier and Roux's new campus and marina. The Hearts of Pine have become a HUGE success and Fitzpatrick is not sufficient for growth. It would also make a great setting for summer concerts. Bangor's riverfront concert venue sells out 16,000 seats for summer events. Additionally, Portland would draw from Boston for concerts. This is probably too wonderful of a thing to happen though. You can't use the disproportionate distressed effect argument on minority groups. Oh well, forget I mentioned it. Lol.

 

[nomc]

It's a great site for a marquee project like this, but how do you get cars in and out? Does anyone know if they got to the point of a transportation study for the proposed residential project on this site? I think that was one of the major NIMBY talking points?

 

[PWMFlyer]

I can tell you from experience from this side of the bridge, that there is a contingent group of people who want no development in this area. They are fearing 10ft+ increase in oceans in the near future.....and pushing this in the comp plan

 

[MiddleMan]

Well, if it's any consolation, Austin (where I also live) had alllll the NIMBYs out in opposition for the Q2 MLS stadium.

 

[Dr. StrangeHat]

I still think the Maine Mall parking lot remains the most viable option. It simply checks more boxes than any other site:

Land Cost & Availability: Usable land for a fraction of the cost of urban property in Portland or South Portland.
Infrastructure: Direct access from I-95, I-295, and the western suburbs, plus more parking than they could ever need.
Connectivity: Established access to public transportation and the Jetport.
Hospitality Ecosystem: 13 hotels within a mile (17 within 2 miles) and over 20 sit-down restaurants nearby (plus shuttered restaurant spaces ripe for reactivation).
Zero NIMBY Opposition: No residential abutters means no opposition to game traffic or concert noise (crucial for venue viability).
Environmental/Site Prep: No massive brownfield clean-up grants needed (unlike the tank farms). In fact, this could open up Long Creek Watershed restoration grants by replacing a sea of aging asphalt with modern stormwater management and thoughtful development.
Retail Partnership: The incoming Dick's Sporting Goods "House of Sport" offers an immediate partnership opportunity.
Mall Owner Partnership: The Maine Mall is owned by Brookfield Properties, a developer that actively specializes in turning traditional malls into mixed-use districts. They aggressively bid to build a sports district in San Diego (winning the initial selection before regulatory changes) and are currently working on similar mall-to-urban evolutions at properties like the Cumberland Mall in Atlanta. They have the capital and the playbook for exactly this type of transformation.

Honestly, the only box it doesn't check is being close to downtown. But if we view the Mall as a site in desperate need of retrofitting into a mixed-use district (which it is), this stadium becomes the anchor for a new urban oasis rather than just a field in a parking lot.

A stadium close to downtown or in a more urban setting is certainly romantic, but an insolvent stadium inhibited from hosting concerts by constant NIMBY fights (see Forest Hills Stadium in NYC) is useless. The Mall site allows them to spend money on the product and the experience rather than sinking the budget into land acquisition or environmental remediation of industrial zones.

 

[TC_zoid]

I still think the Maine Mall parking lot remains the most viable option. It simply checks more boxes than any other site:

Land Cost & Availability: Usable land for a fraction of the cost of urban property in Portland or South Portland.
Infrastructure: Direct access from I-95, I-295, and the western suburbs, plus more parking than they could ever need.
Connectivity: Established access to public transportation and the Jetport.
Hospitality Ecosystem: 13 hotels within a mile (17 within 2 miles) and over 20 sit-down restaurants nearby (plus shuttered restaurant spaces ripe for reactivation).
Zero NIMBY Opposition: No residential abutters means no opposition to game traffic or concert noise (crucial for venue viability).
Environmental/Site Prep: No massive brownfield clean-up grants needed (unlike the tank farms). In fact, this could open up Long Creek Watershed restoration grants by replacing a sea of aging asphalt with modern stormwater management and thoughtful development.
Retail Partnership: The incoming Dick's Sporting Goods "House of Sport" offers an immediate partnership opportunity.
Mall Owner Partnership: The Maine Mall is owned by Brookfield Properties, a developer that actively specializes in turning traditional malls into mixed-use districts. They aggressively bid to build a sports district in San Diego (winning the initial selection before regulatory changes) and are currently working on similar mall-to-urban evolutions at properties like the Cumberland Mall in Atlanta. They have the capital and the playbook for exactly this type of transformation.

Honestly, the only box it doesn't check is being close to downtown. But if we view the Mall as a site in desperate need of retrofitting into a mixed-use district (which it is), this stadium becomes the anchor for a new urban oasis rather than just a field in a parking lot.

A stadium close to downtown or in a more urban setting is certainly romantic, but an insolvent stadium inhibited from hosting concerts by constant NIMBY fights (see Forest Hills Stadium in NYC) is useless. The Mall site allows them to spend money on the product and the experience rather than sinking the budget into land acquisition or environmental remediation of industrial zones.

Yes, that is a good argument. But there is something about a dynamic sports team experience within a city center. Imagine Fenway Park moved to Newton or Medford. Fenway Park has virtually no parking. That's what makes it so much fun--you have to stick around for a while before and after and don't mind it. Also, it is or had been like this with Cross Insurance Arena/Civic Center. In the 80s and 90s it was the heartbeat for entertainment in Portland. After a concert or game, woo-hoo, it was time to hang in the Old Port. Today, it's lack of a contemporary interior re-configuring has resulted in a rather blah experience. And no matter what you do at the mall, you need to get back in your car to go somewhere more desirable to eat or drink after. For a soccer stadium location across the harbor, it would be fun with all the ferry boat traffic to and from Portland's waterfront (and Roux). You don't have to build massive parking lots, except for maybe one big garage. The mall area would really only work if there were a massive amount of housing built. This way, new food and drink businesses would appear. Otherwise, there is no reason to hang around. The older design idea shopping mall is kind of dead or dying. I see this all over the country now. Something updated like The Downs could work. The Maine Mariners are building their new practice facility here. There is a lot of land, for sure, and the 95 exit and Route 1 are close. Allagash's tasting room is nice, but other than that, nothing too fun, or yet.