You are currently browsing the daily archive for May 12, 2009.
By Carol McCracken
Pearl Street from Oxford Street to Cumberland Avenue will be closed to all traffic until repairs are complete.
This is due to a water main break. It’s estimated to be open at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow.
Please call the Portland Water District at 874-8823.
By Carol McCracken
Portland is about to become a beneficiary of an additional stimulus package provided by the Housing & Urban Development Department of the Obama administration, announced Mayor Jill Duson at a budget meeting yesterday afternoon at the city hall.
The additional funds for Portland amount to $572,670 and will be disbursed under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). These funds, CDBG-R are to be disbursed as “one time money” only. The criteria for disbursing these federal funds is in the “same spirit of the recovery funds” said T. J. Martzial, HNS Division Director for the City. In other words, the funds should be used for infrastructure and energy efficiency type projects Martzial said.
The proposed projects need to be submitted to the federal government by June 5 for its persual and approval. The government will be scrutinizing the list carefully to be sure the proposed projects carefully meet the new criteria under the Recovery Act. While the proposals that did not receive funding from the last distribution of CDBG funds will be reconsidered, because of the new criteria, many of them may not be eligible for these new funds.
Councilman Skolnik spoke in support of applying some funds for the proposed skateboard park. Mayor Duson expressed her support for distributing some of the new funds for the continued restoration of the Abyssinian Meeting House on Newbury Street.
Councilman Kevin Donoghue in an e-mail to MHN last week was non-committal in setting aside funds for the on-going restoration of the Abyssinian Meeting House which is in his District on the Hill.
By Carol McCracken
The Board of Directors of the Portland Harbor Museum has announced that it is relocating its facility to 510 Congress Street, effective Wednesday, May 20th. Three new exhibits will be opened on May 22 and run until October 18, 2009 at the new address in downtown Portland.
The reason to relocate from its 22 year waterfront home at Southern Maine Community College to downtown Portland did not come easily for the Board of Directors. But the move was determined as necessary for the future well-being of this non-profit. Despite the scenic waterfront location of the Museum, it was so far off the beaten track, that it was hard to attract visitors to the location. During the last five years or so, the Museum at its South Portland location had drawn 4,000 people a year. “Not enough visitors to sustain a museum,” wrote Mark R. Thompson, executive director, of the Museum in a special edition of the “Portland Harbor Beacon” sent to members of the Museum. In addition, there were serious physical problems with the building which were a serious drawback in storing and displaying exhibits and collections and other aspects of maintaining a viable Museum and work environment for employees.
The new space offers many basic improvements over the old facility, minus the valued waterfront location. The exhibit space has doubled that of the former location. It’s anticipated in 2009 there will be seven exhibits running – which hopefully will provide something of interest for all visitors. Eventually, there will be space devoted to childrens’ interests. The Museum hopes it will be the beneficiary of the downtown traffic around it; it’s in the central business district and the city’s Arts District. “The Portland Museum of Art, the Children’s Museum, the Maine College of Art, The Salt Institute, the Maine Historical Society and the Portland Public Library are all within 2 l/2 blocks of the new location. This is the cultural center of the city; it is the cultural center for all of our individual cities and town,” wrote Penelope P. Carson, Chairperson, Board of Directors, in the special edition of the “Portland Harbor Beacon.”
The three exhibits starting later this month are:
Dean Abramson Photographs: Harbor Views
Nance Trueworthy Photographs: Faces of the Working Waterfront
Good Work, Sister: Women Shipyard Workers During World War II ( Sponsored by Maine Humanities Council)
For more information, please visit ww.portlandharbormuseum.org
By Carol McCracken
Once again, A Company of Girls, (ACOG), has been displaced from its space. This time it was displaced from the former Adams School on the Hill. Moving is nothing new to this award winning non-profit. It has been looking for a permanent home for its program since 2006. According to Odelle Bowman, its director, ACOG moved from the former Adams School at the end of March this year.
This award winning non-profit has been looking for a permanent home for its at risk girls theater group since 2006. That’s when it was evicted from its 11 year home at 10 Mayo Street by Peoples’ Regional Opportunity Program. “PROP”, who owned the property, sold the historic former church to businesswomen Roxanne Quimby. That was when ACOG moved to the vacated Adams School. Last November, ACOG appeared close to a lease with a landlord in the Bayside area. However, for financial reasons, the deal fell through. Since then ACOG has rermained at the former Adams School – an arrangement that all parties knew was temporary.
Since leaving Adams School earlier this year, Back Cove Financial contributed office space on Ocean Avenue for the staff to use. The nearby Spurwink School donated the use of its basement for meetings. And, the Breakwater School offers the use of their space for performances by the theater group.
“We are still homeless,” said Bowman yesterday afternoon. She hopes to utilize some space in the future at East End Community School for the youngest girls in the program. She said that donations are up this year but foundation money for non-profits has dropped significantly.
“ACOG” has always understood that theirs was an emergency tenancy. I am pleased that they have found a new home.” said councilor Kevin J. Donoghue.
