Potential Soccer Stadium | Portland peninsula

Interesting idea. It solves the parking and food and drink fun options, that's for sure. And it helps bring back the Mall business. I would still increase the capacity to at least 20,000. It would be a straight shot for fans of both soccer and concerts (summer, if a roof can't be added) from Southern N.H. too, which is an hour away and another 500,000 in population to draw from. If you remember back, the primary criticism for the old Civic Center was its low capacity. Haven't you noticed virtually no medium sized acts appear now? None. It's kind of sad, what appears now. Bangor has 15,000 for its riverfront capacity venue. They have much bigger acts than Portland, and ones that you have actually heard of. I don't understand why so many are fine with 10,000 seats and only for soccer. I mean, I know there is that mindset here which is not feeling deserving of making more money, but get over it. Make more. The profit model for concerts has changed.
 
The mall is an odd ball property. Several entities own several parcels which becomes an issue. Sears owns the property which they never leased. The land is supposedly for sale which is the store and the restaurant pad. Macys owns property in the other end of the mall, others own other properties. Second is the land is not compatible for multi story buildings due to the soil contents. Thats why the mall is essentially one story. The mall tried to have a 2 story mall back in the 80s but the costs and the sinking issues. That land was originally a pig farm.
 
Here's the tax map (map 74B if you go to the SoPo assessor's site):
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Here is the list of properties on the map:
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In order, they are:
  • 7 Philbrook Ave: Jared
  • 400 Mall Road: Sears
  • 364 Mall Road: the Mall itself, plus the Ulta Beauty and former Hu-Ke-Lau buildings.
  • 290 Mall Road: Macy's
  • 300 Mall Road: Longhorn
  • The one that just says Gorham Rd. is a vacant lot (maybe the former ATM?)
  • 430 Gorham Rd: No photo but I believe it's Books-a-Million
  • 390 Gorham Rd: Tuscan Table
  • 380 Gorham Rd: Kobe
  • 280 Mall Road: Uno
  • 420 Mall Road: On The Border (RIP)
  • 350 Mall Road: JC Penney
 
Building a more compact structure seems doable on the vacant lot (109395). Not sure about the parking situation though.
 
Why aren't they formulating a plan for this entire complex? This could be a great residential/retail development with parking garages shrinking the need for surface lots.....sigh.
 
mainejeff said:
Why aren't they formulating a plan for this entire complex? This could be a great residential/retail development with parking garages shrinking the need for surface lots.....sigh.
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I thought there was a plan for the mall to add housing all along the surrounding parking lots?
 
DanielPWM19 said:
I thought there was a plan for the mall to add housing all along the surrounding parking lots?
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You'd think that housing would be in demand in this area....at the confluence of I-295 and the Maine Turnpike....in the middle of Maine's largest retail area.......duh! Get it done developers!
 
Based on this conceptual rendering from that plan I linked above, it appears the south branch of Long Creek (at least the original course) runs under where I propose putting the stadium, so that might kill that idea. There's still a sea of open surface parking lots to choose from, though.

1701290138456.png
 
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Dr. StrangeHat said:
Based on this conceptual rendering from that plan I linked above, it appears the south branch of Long Creek runs under where I propose putting the stadium, so that probably kills that idea. There's still a sea of open surface parking lots to choose from, though.

View attachment 45133
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I think a water feature could be a defining feature of the stadium... like Gillette and the wind
 
So, New Balance gives UMO $7 million to build it and then name the complex? They also gave millions to build a *super cool* indoor facility in Boston that seats 5,000. It's simple: for Fitzpatrick, draw up plans to keep the track and configure the stands for soccer too (sections of the track can be replaced with removable artificial turf). Put a simple roof on and then seats for up to 20,000. Create the ends for concerts (staging access on one end, and a dynamic food and drink plaza at the other) and ask for $50 million from New Balance (New Balance used to have a factory in Saco). Look for the other $50 million and change for the budget to build it. The PMA, USM, and the Children's Museum all found ways to raise millions. And let USM use it for their sports too. They seem to have little problem raising millions. Call the New Balance people. The facility will be hopping year-round for everyone to see their signage (and the only indoor track with that much seating in New England!). "New Balance Stadium", or NBS. Sorry, but an outdoor facility will eventually become a dud. Maine is usually cold. Even summer nights can get down to the low 50s. And please, none of this "It will cost well over $100 million to build." Not if you are creative.

https://www.mainebiz.biz/article/um...r-track-complex-with-7m-gift-from-new-balance

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When Jon Jennings was City Manager, he was working on a plan for the sports complex and New Balance was part of that. Part of that was to build a multi purpose facility between the expo and the ice rink. The ice rink also has plans for another sheet of ice, but covid hit and Jon left the city. The city also has burned a lot of corporate bridges over the years. There are a lot of forces in this city that would not be in favor, the Democratic Socialists and the progressives on the council unless money was going to social services.
 
PWMFlyer said:
When Jon Jennings was City Manager, he was working on a plan for the sports complex and New Balance was part of that. Part of that was to build a multi purpose facility between the expo and the ice rink. The ice rink also has plans for another sheet of ice, but covid hit and Jon left the city. The city also has burned a lot of corporate bridges over the years. There are a lot of forces in this city that would not be in favor, the Democratic Socialists and the progressives on the council unless money was going to social services.
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Interesting. Yes, perhaps this is all a futile endeavor for Portland with its current "leadership." A 20 to 25,000 seat venue could have been a surefire success if done right, as Bangor draws 16,000 for a concert and that is outside in the relative cold (at night). Portland is only a bit over an hour's drive from nearly two million people. Live Nation is or was interested in investing or partnering up in Portland, as the city nixed the idea for a big concert in Payson Park (Lauren Wayne once worked for them). Perhaps if the city was fooled into thinking it was primarily for USM, something could happen. You know, Gov feeling good with Gov. It's all about how people "feel" today, and not what really makes sense. The transportation options in this area are ideal: train, plane, bus, car, and even by boat if factoring in the many marinas. Where else do you see this in such close proximity? Only Boston, really. It's 5 min. on the Silver Line from the hot new Seaport District to Logan. But building anything on a bigger scale in Boston requires a lot of palm greasing--that's why the new stadium next to Encore for the Revolution is stalled. But it will happen, eventually. But not Portland. I completely see the futility of it now.
 
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And so, the city of Portland said F.U. to New Balance, in a roundabout kind of way. This place is also used for events and concerts (7,000 capacity with the field included). Portland has many underperforming or under potential venues, except for maybe The Merrill. But even that could build something for better food and drink facilities, as it can be a big chunk of revenue if done right. I know of one, though quite large, facility that sold 20,000 plastic disco cup drinks at $40 a pop. The gross on one drink with back-to-back shows? 800K. That's not too shabby, as Adam Sandler might say.

https://thetrackatnewbalance.com/
 
PWMFlyer said:
When Jon Jennings was City Manager, he was working on a plan for the sports complex and New Balance was part of that. Part of that was to build a multi purpose facility between the expo and the ice rink. The ice rink also has plans for another sheet of ice, but covid hit and Jon left the city. The city also has burned a lot of corporate bridges over the years. There are a lot of forces in this city that would not be in favor, the Democratic Socialists and the progressives on the council unless money was going to social services.
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Y'all need to take everything Jon Jennings promised with a sports-arena-sized grain of salt. That man was profoundly inexperienced, narcissistic, and legendary for failing to follow through on his schemes – many of which involved non-existent sports venues.

Before he was city manager, in 2011, he was involved in the sports arena proposal for Thompson's Point... and couldn't deliver it, even with a huge subsidy from taxpayers: "A key piece of the project, to be called The Forefront, would be a 48,000-square-foot convention center that would also be a 3,500-seat arena for the Red Claws. It would be attached to a hotel on one side and a music hall on the other that would seat between 1,000 and 2,000 people, Ryan and Jennings said... Jennings said they have discussed the project with banks and haven’t formally approached any, but are confident that the financing will be arranged." (source).

Just a couple months later, the City Council later gave Jennings and his development team a $31 million TIF deal but fortunately taxpayers weren't on the hook because, even with that much subsidy, he still couldn't get anything built (source).

There are also storied from current and former city staff that Jennings threw massive temper tantrums in City Hall when he didn't get his way – which might explain the massive turnover among city staff during his tenure.

Finally, he moved to Florida, where he barely had enough time to torpedo a badly-needed downtown housing project before he got fired by the Clearwater City Council for being so bad at his job (source).
 
If I could buy the entire Maine Mall parcel and completely re-work it I 10000% would - would build a stadium there. Re-design the roads with South Portland. I would need to win the lottery though! One of the reasons I buy tix! ~ C
 
Redfern said:
If I could buy the entire Maine Mall parcel and completely re-work it I 10000% would - would build a stadium there. Re-design the roads with South Portland. I would need to win the lottery though! One of the reasons I buy tix! ~ C
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God bless you. The Maine Mall is the biggest waste of prime land in all of Maine! Hope you win someday!🤑
 
Is Hadlock field worth keeping as a baseball stadium? Have the Seadogs play a season in Old Orchard while they retrofit hadlock and fitzy. Fitzy + Hadlock could be a stadium similar to Providence Park in the other Portland. I am totally spit balling here but there really isnt much available open space for a new sports stadium in Portland. Portland could draw crowds over 10k for soccer. The interest in soccer is strong in southern Maine.
 
Given the Sea Dogs' established success and the fact that it's the home field for both Portland and Deering high schools, I'd say yes, it's worth keeping the baseball stadium. The upgrades MLB wants now aren't like what happened to the Maine Guides, when the league required double the capacity shortly after the park opened.
 
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