Places I Wish Were Still Around...

The Public Market was amazing. There were a lot of articles about its failure at the time, but many were of the "you need to know the inside background we aren't telling to really get it" variety. I definitely think the final blow was that, after Betty Noyce died, Owen Wells at Libra had little interest in preserving her dream and sold it to help fund his own, Pineland Farms. JMO based on what I read at the time.
 
The market screwed itself out of the gate. They were not allowing places to make food and sandwiches to eat there. So basically it was a gigantic place to drink coffee. Later that changed but too late. The pies at that bakery in there were awesome
 
Portcity75 said:
The market screwed itself out of the gate. They were not allowing places to make food and sandwiches to eat there. So basically it was a gigantic place to drink coffee. Later that changed but too late. The pies at that bakery in there were awesome
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I remember a fish place with counter seating. The fireplace area had some seating, but yes, there was a lack of seating. They could of helped that problem with elimination of one of the spaces, or the outdoor area that Slab uses but with a glass enclosure to keep it warm. It's as though the ownership didn't care. The best new public market model, in my opinion, is Time Out Market in Boston, down the street from Fenway Park. It makes Quincy Market painful to visit, knowing TOM is open, but really only practical to visit before or after Red Sox games.
 
The biggest liability for the Public Market was the giant parking garage that got pegged onto it, whose capital and operating costs required the nonprofit operators to charge exorbitant rents for the stalls next door. A lot of small vendors couldn't afford it.
 
But in the early stages they were not allowing vendors to make food to eat there. There was plenty of seating upstairs.
 
It's been interesting reading the comments on this thread and on the 200 Federal thread regarding what people wish was still here. When I see photos from 50 or 80 years ago that seem to show a city that was more dense, lively and pedestrian-oriented than it is today, I get a bit wistful. But I think it's important to maintain some perspective; the sidewalks of Congress Street were crowded 80 years ago because it's where all the commerce was located. Look at an aerial photo from that time and once you're off the peninsula you see a lot of pastoral landscapes in what are now busy neighborhoods or suburbs.

And while certainly urban renewal took its toll on Portland and some buildings were demolished that should have been preserved, I've also learned that not every building is meant to last a long time. Further, as any therapist would say: the past is the past, and we can't change what's done. While we should learn from past mistakes, it won't change anything to be upset about Union Station not being with us anymore. We're in a real moment of growth in the city now and that's what makes 200 Federal Street so exciting, it's going to bring an infusion of vitality to downtown and it should have a multiplying effect.

I do agree that the Portland Public Market is one building that I wish was still being used for its intended purpose. While being set back from Congress Street didn't help, I think the main problem was that it opened about 10-15 years ahead of its time. I don't think seating was an issue (as I recall the entire upper floor was dedicated to seating), I think it was just ahead of the "foodie revolution" that started about ten years ago. I think today there would be much greater interest in a central market providing fresh produce and other foods, a sort of everyday farmer's market complimented by artisan and local food producers. I'd love to see the public market get another shot.
 
I think the relative lack of seating was because, originally, for the most part they did not want to be a food court; I think their bread-and-butter was intended to be downtown office workers stopping in to buy the night's groceries before heading out to Yarmouth (etc.) I don't think that market ever materialized the way they had hoped, the prices were too steep for it to be a neighborhood resource in the Bayside of the era, and by the time they opened up to more ready-to-eat vendors they had gone through several management changes and the existing vendors were getting fed up (and losing money).

So far as the garage goes, I don't know the finances of it but I do know that most times that I went to the PPM I made a special trip intown to do it (since I don't go there regularly) and without the garage I wouldn't have bothered.
 
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Couple of similar shots of Congress Street in the 50's and 60's. Notice how out of place the two floor addition (1963) looks on the Chapman Building until the owners gave it an improved stucco treatment 20 years later. They also removed the classic cornice on the roof during the process which still annoys me.
 
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The pre-recoating Chapman building always reminded me of the Fantastic Four's Baxter Building from Marvel Comics, especially since in real life it had a bluish shade that doesn't show up in that photo.

Also, that Hobby Center on the right was Castle's, which eventually moved to Westgate, then hopped around a bit more, got sold, and still operates as Ray & Robin's Hobby Center in West Falmouth.

One last note: I found this short piece from UNC that does a compare-and-contrast of the original Public Market with the Public Market House.
 
markhb said:
I think the relative lack of seating was because, originally, for the most part they did not want to be a food court; I think their bread-and-butter was intended to be downtown office workers stopping in to buy the night's groceries before heading out to Yarmouth (etc.) I don't think that market ever materialized the way they had hoped, the prices were too steep for it to be a neighborhood resource in the Bayside of the era, and by the time they opened up to more ready-to-eat vendors they had gone through several management changes and the existing vendors were getting fed up (and losing money).

So far as the garage goes, I don't know the finances of it but I do know that most times that I went to the PPM I made a special trip intown to do it (since I don't go there regularly) and without the garage I wouldn't have bothered.
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Good architecture, above everything else, is supposed to enhance the user experience. The building failed in this respect. If you get a chance, visit the Time Out Market in Boston. This design is perfect for today's customer food and drink experience.
 
City of Portland looked at turning the Maine State Pier into a public market, the other market is proposed near Sun Life. I remember when the theatre was behind 465. The garage was part of a larger plan to build a new Civic Center, but with social service uproar, it never happened. The market was on the wrong side of the tracks. It was a great concept, but wrong time. Loved the restaurant, but was too restrictive...
 
TC_zoid said:
Good architecture, above everything else, is supposed to enhance the user experience. The building failed in this respect. If you get a chance, visit the Time Out Market in Boston. This design is perfect for today's customer food and drink experience.
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Kind of like the design for the new Lexington Market building in Baltimore

https://transformlexington.com/
 
nomc said:
Kind of like the design for the new Lexington Market building in Baltimore

https://transformlexington.com/
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Looks nice, though the beer garden-like long tables at Time Out create a unity among diners. Also, the vendors surround the tables so that the tables are the center of the experience. Tables should never be on an upper level, away from the experience. I forgot or never knew there was seating on the 2nd level of the Portland Public Market, Also, at Time Out the cocktails and beer offerings bars are spaced within the food ones, somewhat equally. I was in the Maine Mall last week, and their food court is a disaster lacking unity, style, and offerings. Just copy the Time Out model in Boston. It's done and it works. Although a soul food vender is going to open. That's cool.
 
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The iconic sign located in the other Portland. Would be nice to have one on Congress Street someday.
 
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Anyone remember the old "Karate" sign that was connected to the former Owen Moore store? This is the area I'd love to see a classic "Portland" sign. I used to go to Wendy's often and during the 80's Congress Street also had a McDonald's in the current DD at Oak Street and a Burger King in the David's restaurant location in Monument Square.
 
Portlander said:
Anyone remember the old "Karate" sign that was connected to the former Owen Moore store? This is the area I'd love to see a classic "Portland" sign. I used to go to Wendy's often and during the 80's Congress Street also had a McDonald's in the current DD at Oak Street and a Burger King in the David's restaurant location in Monument Square.
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I studied under Sensei Groff when I was a tween; his dojo basically spawned most of the Maine karate schools including Fournier's. At one point in (I believe) the 80's, Landmarks did a facade survey of Congress St., and noted that even though it was a comparatively recent addition, the Karate sign had earned enough community love that it deserved to be preserved.

Incidentally, while the sign may have been near the intersection of the buildings, the dojo itself wasn't in the former Owen Moore (aka Port City Music Hall); it was upstairs in the building on the corner of Brown, where the large windows overlooking Congress are above Material Objects. Per GSV it's now Ryan Senatore's architecture firm (and the sign mounts are still visible).

So far as vertical theater signs on Congress St. goes, there's at least one valid precedent...
https://www.facebook.com/PortlandMaineHistory1786ToPresent/photos/a.358731687524597/164271123637322
 
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