Old Port Square (née Canal Plaza) | Portland

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Canal Plaza construction wrapping up in 1973 with an AMC Gremlin sighting to the right!
 
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Portlander said:
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Here's some 70's charm for those commentators! Plum Street is visible in the top photo and located under the word "Canal". East Brown Cow video screenshots.
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A couple of things worth pointing out in this photo (I don't really remember the "before," but I remember the construction of the "Maineway" project at the time...

  1. That's Temple Street coming straight down from the First Parish Church. That's Union cutting diagonally up from "Post-Demolition". Note that they do not meet at Middle St. Temple initially followed a straight line where the front of the parking garage / Nickelodeon Theater are now; that's where the big weird space in front of it and Lobsterman Park came from, when it was shifted to meet Union.
  2. Middle Street still curves up to Monument Square, following the current "City Center" walkway. But... Spring St. is nowhere to be seen! It formerly began at, I believe, Center St. I have no idea if all the numbers going out to the West End were adjusted when they stretched the beginning of the street, or if everyone just hopes that they never need to assign enough numbers on that stretch that people will notice. (Note that on the south side of Spring, it's all Portland Square addresses from Union to Center, and on the north side you have a couple of low numbers in the neighborhood of the old Underground, then a parking lot, then the Civic Center which uses 1 Civic Center Square, and then the garage is officially 45 Spring. So it looks like "hope no one needs to cram in there" is the operating solution.)
So that's where Portland's Intersection of Four Streets came from. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.
 
You are correct, that is Union Street in the dead center of the top photo and it was not aligned with Temple until the Spring Street Arterial finally meandered down to meet Middle Street. The large empty square lot is where the Falmouth Hotel was located and its western wall was where the Two City Center (Sotheby's) is now. This photo is around the time when all four streets finally connected.


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This photo shows the mess the area was going through around 1971 and the Falmouth Hotel was actually located at the dirt piles in the foreground ended prior to the Seagram's Whiskey sign. Two City Center now sits where the two further pick ups are and the building with the whiskey ad which was demolished to make way for it.
 
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I knew "Michael" was originally somewhere other than where it is now at the base of Free St., but I had forgotten where. Thanks for the reminder!

Interesting that the garage was built following the old Temple St. path, rather than filling out the grassy esplanade. I assume that green patch was thought of as an advantage.
 
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Two City Center under construction, building with whiskey ad is long gone. The gal in the red skirt would have actually been inside the Falmouth Hotel before it was torn down.
 
This should all probably go to General Portland Discussion, but I recall a commercial from the 70's, the era when Maine Savings, Casco Bank and Canal Bank had all built new headquarters buildings, where Portland Savings was supposedly contemplating one (a tall black tower with their "The Bank" on top), but instead decided to stay put (in the Time and Temp building) to be frugal. As things worked out, they didn't move until after they became Peoples Heritage Bank and went to One Portland Square in the 80's.
 
markhb said:
This should all probably go to General Portland Discussion, but I recall a commercial from the 70's,
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I don't think Cosakita would mind, he's making some serious money off of this thread now! :) The only TV commercial I remember was around 1971 which was the "Look around you, discover Intown Portland" (follow the gull) campaign and the newly completed One Monument Square building was in it and I asked my grandmother what was in the building and she said the new headquarters for Casco Bank. I asked her if she would take me and my cousin into the city from Sebago Lake to check out downtown and she agreed because my grandfather had some diving tanks that needed filled at Tommy's Hardare. The things you remember as a teenager and it was a great visit for a military brat from Portland who was living in North Carolina due to my father's USMC career.
 
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markhb said:
I knew "Michael" was originally somewhere other than where it is now at the base of Free St., but I had forgotten where. Thanks for the reminder!
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It is visible in the photo (post 264) in the same spot where the Lobsterman statue is located. (y)
 
The more I look at this new tower proposal, and think about what it represents for the city, the more I like it. I'm now good with the funny crown. Google images of Stockholm, Sweden's skyline. It's basically the same thing going on here, the tall tower (or church steeple) dominating the skyline, and that city has a metro population of 2.4 million. I think because at first, this new tower proposal appears so alarmingly different, we become disturbed, confused, and upset. Imagine the views from up there enjoying a cocktail and appetizer. I've said this about the 13 story Portland House too. Put an all glass enclosed rooftop bar and it's the best view in the country, perhaps (and one of the best in the world, maybe). Let's do this. Portland used to have the tallest building in New England at one time, and nearby OOB was the French Riviera of America. Let's hit home runs again. Build baby build.
 
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Many have complained/worried about this sticking out like a sore thumb or “ruining the skyline” which is such a pathetic complaint. Everything starts somewhere. Lots of people like the aesthetic of the steps up to the tallest building in a skyline. I outlined what Portland may see in the next 10 years. Some a little more far fetched, others in the process of being built, all that have been discussed in this forum! Looks like this tower could lead the way to those larger steps instead of a shorter, stubby stump leading up to the Casco then falling off which we have now!
 
I took this picture in Boston last summer (on the left) and got many Likes for it on the Boston blog. I had eaten dinner in the North End, then walked across the incredibly designed Rose Kennedy Greenway. Post Office Park might feel the same. Let's do this.

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I started looking at buildings in various American and Canadian cities….specifically the caps/rooflines. Atlanta has a bunch of examples but I found Bank of America Plaza to be one of the better ones. The Old Port Square design has grown on me though. I think it is sophisticated and unique…and would vault Portland into another level of urbanism and notoriety on the East Coast.
 

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The "Waterline" under construction in Austin will be the tallest in Texas when complete also has a very unique roofline. The upper portion of the tower actually reminds me of the Old Port Square proposal.
 
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The Waterline is a graceless pig. It makes this tower look less bad, and having some time to digest it also makes it look less bad. Honestly even if it was built as-is it isn't THAT terrible. Quality execution could go a long way to saving a weird design.

Portland has a church, the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception, that was the tallest building in New England when built in 1866. Not counting churches the above post #278 is accurate about the Ames Building.

I always struggle to decide which city I prefer as the #2 city in New England between Providence and Portland. Portland has a lot more going for it, but Providence has tall enough buildings to fake a "Baby Boston" feel in areas. I also generally stick to College Hill and downtown/capitol area which are architectural marvels. However, Portland feels more charming and is in a WAY better setting. It also feels safer and livelier overall. I just really prefer to have some taller buildings in the mix. This tower will likely tip the scale for me to lean Portland over Providence. (as an aside, Providence is moving in the opposite direction and feels like a loser city, especially after the way they reacted to their own potential new tallest)

If this tower is built at 380' it will pass the following New England cities:
Pawtucket (city hall)
Lowell
Greenwich (church)
Foxboro (stadium)
Waterbury (clock tower)
Bridgeport
East Hartford
Provincetown (monument)
New Bedford (church)
Lawrence (clock tower building)
Manchester
Worcester
Amherst
Somerville
Bennington (monument)
Ledyard (Foxwoods CT)
Everett (casino)
Stamford

It will just miss New Haven and Springfield. Technically if it materialized today it would also pass Cambridge but it won't pass the new MXD Residential being built.
 
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