Background and Purpose
Like many historic downtowns in Maine, Gray Village has seen a decline from its heyday in the 19th and early 20th centuries. During those earlier periods, the Village was the primary focus of commercial activity and community life, and the character of the buildings and landscape reflected its social importance.
In the post-WWII period, development of the automobile culture drew activities and focus to more regional locations, and care and attention to the Village and its structures waned. Historic buildings were allowed to decline, and many of them were torn down and replaced with service stations and fast food restaurants.
The Village is now an odd mixture of historic buildings and more modern structures and sites that lack visual or functional cohesiveness needed for a vibrant downtown. The declining quality and hodgepodge results have discouraged investment in properties, and the overall economic health of the Village and community has suffered as a result.
The portion of the Village proposed for a master planning study is a classic case of this syndrome. The Town owns three adjacent properties on Shaker Road—Stimson Hall, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, and the Town Hall and old Post Office, both vintage 1960s utilitarian structures that detract from the Village’s historic character and quality.
With completion of the new Town Offices at the Pennell Complex on Main Street the Town has vacated its Shaker Road offices. Now that the former Town Hall is vacant, there is strong potential that it will decline like the abandoned Post Office beside it, which has been vacant for nearly a decade. Because of the recession and the condition of the properties, attempts to sell them for private redevelopment have failed. This planning project will develop a future vision for the block that will stimulate private investment and redevelopment in keeping with the historic Village character. It will also help catalyze revitalization in other parts of the Village.
Past Attempts at Revitalization
A year after the new Post Office was built on Portland Road outside of the Village, the Town attempted to stimulate interest in redevelopment of the old Post Office on Shaker Road. In 2002, a local architectural firm prepared a conceptual design for expanded Town offices that would fill in the space between the Town-owned buildings and modernize both structures. Due to budget concerns, that effort failed, and the idea was abandoned.
In 2006, the Town undertook a master planning process for the entire Village and adopted the current Village Master Plan that has been guiding policies, programs, and projects, including the Town’s applications for CDBG funding. That plan set goals and objectives for revitalization of the downtown and created vision and momentum for achieving them. When voters approved renovation of the historic Pennell Institute on Main Street for new Town Offices in November of 2008, the Council put the Shaker Road properties on the market. After nearly two years in the hands of two of the region’s top commercial brokerage firms, only one serious offer for any of the three properties materialized, and concerns over lack of parking and joint use of the limited parking available quickly ended that opportunity.
Challenges to Redevelopment
Stimson Hall was originally designed for public assembly but lacks modern amenities, and the small lot lacks adequate parking to make it a viable stand alone site. The adjacent Town Hall has limited floor space with split levels that make handicapped accessibility difficult and expensive. The Post Office is in the worst condition of all three buildings. Successful redevelopment of the block will require a coordinated plan with shared parking and utilities.
Given these site conditions and the current recession, there is not enough development and/or leasable space potential in the properties to attract private capital for redevelopment unless a creative and workable master plan is developed.
Planning Process
Successful redevelopment of the block will require careful planning and cooperation with adjacent property owners. The process will start with an engineering analysis of the site constraints and opportunities for redevelopment, looking at stormwater and wastewater management and parking as the physical limiting factors. Calculations will be made to establish a maximum build out capacity of the block.
This baseline assessment of development potential will be reviewed by a local architect who will also review the existing buildings for expansion potential or replacement. Several concepts will be prepared to illustrate redevelopment options in terms of building forms and locations. The engineering assessment and architectural concepts will provide essential background information for a public participation process involving stakeholders and members of the general public to create a common vision for one or more redevelopment models that can be effectively marketed.
The planning process will establish goals and objectives for the block in terms of the level of Town involvement in the redevelopment process, potential uses or use mixtures, and desired amenities and design features. The output of the public participation efforts will then be refined into a proposed master development plan. That plan will serve as the basis for a special zoning template that will be the governing regulations for redevelopment of the block. The combination of professional assessments and community support will greatly improve the marketability of the properties to potential investors.
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