Neighborhoods surrounding the USM campus in Portland had strong feelings when they heard about USM’s plan to build a 1,150-space garage on campus. They knew something needed to be done about the parking situation, but they feared the garage would leave surrounding neighbors staring at a big, ugly chunk of cement.
According to Executive Director of Media Relations Bob Caswell, the concerns of the project’s construction were voiced mainly by residents living on Chamberlain and Washburn Avenues.
“Their concerns were on the size and scale of the project, and how it would fit into the neighborhood,” said Caswell.
The brick facing on the Chamberlain and Washburn Ave. side of the building was suggested by project architects to make the building look more attractive to residents of those two streets.
Brad Blake, Vice president of the Woodfords-Oakdale Neighborhood Association, and resident of Ashmont St. is extremely happy with the outcome of the project, and of the way USM officials handled the planning.
“President Pattenaude and Bob Caswell really value the opinions and feelings of the neighbors in the area,” said Blake. “As members of the community, we were allowed to be involved in the planning of the project.”
The plans for the garage have been in the works since December of 2001, and architectural contractors Einhorn, Yaffe and Prescott had a large part in the community planning aspects of the project. “EYP architects was hired because of its experience in working with campuses all over the country. Their expertise is focused on campuses which reside within a municipality,” stated Caswell. “They did an amazing job facilitating open meetings and considering neighbor’s concerns.” Blake added, “This process worked extremely well.”
One of the other major concerns neighbors had surrounding the garage was pedestrian safety. Students exiting the garage on foot must walk up Surrenden St., and across Bedford St. to get to class. Caswell stated that this was a concern brought up by members of the planning board, and was resolved by a plan to build the pedestrian crosswalk over Bedford St. Another concern was met by planners to design the landscaping with neighbors in mind.
The berm on Surrenden St. that cuts off the garage’s entrance on Bedford St. from Washburn and Chamberlain Avenues was put in place to cut down on the traffic to the two neighborhood streets.
“It has cut down on traffic tremendously,” said one Chamberlain Ave. resident, who wished to remain anonymous. “The garage is awesome. For the students, it is fine, it was a necessity,” she continued. “However, I must take a taxi to and from town to do my errands, and I have to have the driver drop me at the end of Fessenden because I can’t afford to have him drive me around,” she said “so that is a little bit of an inconvenience.”
Dr. T.W. Sottery shares the same feelings about the Surrenden St. modification. “It makes it more difficult to get in and out of our street,” he said. Sottery went on to say it has cut down on traffic significantly.
Since the garage’s completion, Woodfords-Oakdale neighborhood resident Sally Walker, who lives on Fessenden St. doesn’t believe the garage has helped anything. “Nobody’s using it,” she said. “I haven’t seen it alleviate anything, especially on Falmouth St.”
“It’s quicker to park here and run down the street, instead of using the garage” said Ed Seymourian, another Fessenden St. resident. “It’s really too bad. It’s costing them a lot of money,” Seymourian continued. “They got what they wanted and now they should use it.”
Blake, who is an active voice in his neighborhood association states that the surrounding residents of the Portland campus overall, are very pleased with the results. “It fulfills the purpose for which it was built, and that was to cut down spillover parking in the general area,” he said. “It is a great addition to USM and to the neighborhood.”
The garage is the centerpiece of a $24.9 million project that will also include the Abromson Community Education Center and a footbridge running from the community center and garage over Bedford St. to the common area between Masterton and Luther-Bonney halls.
Joe Bilancieri can be contacted at [email protected]