Portland Maine’s Skyline Could Change Forever If This Tower is Built

People who live in Maine, especially those like me who were born here and have lived all my life here, have a knack for living their lives in this great state, the way it should be. To me, that does not include building the tallest building in all of Maine. Why do we need this?

Old Port Square

A 30-story tower called Old Port Square is proposed for Portland and would have luxury condominiums, a hotel, retail shops, restaurants, and a public observation deck. Sounds like this is for the wealthy to me.

Just look at how that massive tower completely changes the landscape of Portland. Here's what this scene looks like today, with no tower:

East Brown Cow and Safdie Architects are the minds behind this project, which plans to transform four acres of the Old Port with this mixed-use tower. If constructed, it will be the tallest commercial building in all of Maine, which would make The Casco the second tallest, at 18 stories, and was completed in 2023. To put things in perspective, the tallest building in Portland, Oregon, is 40 stories tall, just 10 stories less than the proposed one in Portland, Maine. Do we want that in Portland? I sure don't.

Does Portland Really Need This?

There's still a lot of time ahead before this thing becomes reality. Right now, the project is up against the Portland Planning Board for review.

In my humble opinion, as a lifelong Mainer, this doesn't feel like Maine. This feels like every other cookie-cutter building that cities put up just because they can. We're Maine. We're rural. This is our home, and this project isn't necessary.

Portland is a walkable, vibrant city that you can feel is Maine. Don't take that away from us by building something so tall that it rises above everything else already built here.