Portlander
Senior Member
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2010
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You are a good sport Daniel and I agree that many buildings that were demolished could have been saved. But as Portland rolled into the 70's "renewal" was the theme for most urban centers in the country and our favorite city followed suit. The good news is that Portland's downtown was not as scarred as many others (even Bangor was not exempt) due to preservation groups and limited demolition grants. Some of buildings that were destroyed to make way for One City Center were salvageable but individual owners eventually sold their properties due the amount of new safety requirements, plumbing, electrical, asbestos removal, ADA, city red tape and the financial feasibility of renovating turn of the century structures. The Old Port was already an acknowledged historic district with no chance of new construction opportunities and the land where the new high rises were built were not. Like you, I'm saddened by some of our losses but we've come a long way since the urban renewal period and Portland has grown into one of the finest small cities in the county in spite of some of the mishaps along the way.
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