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[DPCMikeT]

www.wintonscott.com
www.olympiacompanies.com
About 100 people filled Rines Auditorium at the Portland Public Library March 1 for a peek at the proposal from Olympia Cos. to build a hotel, office building, retail village and two-acre park on the Maine State Pier and abutting land.

“The idea is to make this the hub of Portland,” Olympia President Kevin Mahaney said.

Mahaney and his team got a jump on competitor Ocean Properties in terms of reaching out to the public in an interactive atmosphere, but there will be several chances in the coming months to view the two $90 million proposals.

Ocean Properties spokesman Robert Baldacci on Monday said he is finalizing details for a March 19 forum at which development principals Tom Walsh and former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell will walk the public through Ocean Properties’ vision of the pier, which includes a hotel, office building, cruiseport, parking garage, restaurant and public market.

“We want people to weigh in and express concerns and ideas,” Baldacci said. The meeting is tentatively scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at the new East End Elementary School.

Also on March 19, the Portland Community Chamber will host a noon forum at Merrill Auditorium to discuss both projects with leaders of the competing development companies. The event is free and open to the public and will be moderated by Neal Allen of the Greater Portland Council of Governments. Those interested must register by March 15 with the chamber.

“This will be a great opportunity for questions and to see and compare the two proposals,” said Godfrey Wood, chief executive officer of the Portland Regional Chamber.

According to Wood, the chamber is interested in how the city plans to judge the proposals and what the criteria might be for a successful project. He said it is important for the public to know the process, including whether the city plans to negotiate with both developers or just one.

City officials have said it will take months to sift through the proposals and digest each 175-page document, on top of scheduling interviews and site visits with the developers.

The Community Development Committee has a public meeting scheduled for March 20 to discuss the proposals. That committee will ultimately make a recommendation to the City Council.

The City Council rezoned the Maine State Pier last September. The city determined the pier was failing structurally and needed at least $13 million in repairs. The rezoning allows for nonmarine uses, with the reasoning that in exchange for letting a developer build on the 88-year-old city-owned property, the pier would be fixed with private funds.

The city has stipulated that any development of the pier include provisions for marine uses such as berthing for large tankers in need of repair. That situation is happening now at the pier, where the tanker Overseas Shirley is tied up for boiler repairs and other maintenance. No other dock in the city can accommodate a ship that size and the city makes $1,400 a day in berthing and other fees, according to Ports Director Jeff Monroe. The boat has been in port for two weeks and may be here as many as three more weeks.

Besides the city, many water-dependent businesses and workers are getting paid to fix the tanker and provide other support.

Baldacci and Mahaney said tankers and other big ships will still be able to use the deep-water berth at the pier after a development proposal is selected. In the event a cruise ship is scheduled to be at the pier, Baldacci said, there will still be options for accommodating a tanker.

Ocean Properties and Olympia were the only companies to submit proposals for the pier.

Last week, Olympia officials heard a range of public input about their proposal from a diverse crowd. Consultant Winton Scott, of Winton Scott Architects, explained Olympia’s approach to designing the state pier proposal, which included several Portland architectural firms.

“It was a very unusual, pluralist process,” Scott said as he took the audience through a set of photographic slides.

In addition to the architects, a group of community members also met with the design team several times and helped shape the park and layout, said consultant Alan Holt.

After a question-and-answer period, members of the audience split into nine teams to go over key points and questions about the Olympia proposal. Many were positive about the park and the inclusion of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)-certified construction. Others questioned the lack of immediate parking and the design of the hotel.

Baldacci said the public will get equal opportunity to question the Ocean Properties proposal March 19. He said it is important to remember the process will be fluid and the current proposal is a “concept plan.”

“Ideas will come and changes will be made,” he said.