UPHOLDING PORTLAND’S PRESERVATION ORDINANCE: 142 FREE STREET AND THE PMA’S PLANNED EXPANSION

Updates

We were pleased to have the opportunity to press our case today, March 5, 2025, before Superior Court Justice Deborah Cashman to uphold the City of Portland’s Historic Preservation Ordinance and overturn the re-classification of 142 Free Street. We appreciated the questions that were asked by the court and how vigorously our attorney represented our position and the facts of the case.

In the meantime, we have had constructive conversations with PMA leadership and are committed to work collaboratively with them to achieve their goals in a way that upholds the integrity of the City’s historic preservation programs.

Responsible preservation has played a vital role in making Portland such a special place to live, work and visit, which is why we continue to fight so hard to protect these important standards. Our local ordinance closely follows long accepted national standards and is designed to be widely accessible and fairly applied.

We remain optimistic about the ultimate outcome of the legal proceedings and look forward to a successful and positive resolution of this issue.

The Issue

The Portland Museum of Art plans to expand its campus within the Congress Street Historic District by constructing a new wing next to the Payson Wing. Rather than developing a scheme to incorporate the former Chamber of Commerce Building (also known as the former Children’s Museum) located at 142 Free Street, a contributing building located within the historic district, the PMA applied to reclassify it as “non-contributing” to facilitate its full demolition. Following the clear standards in Portland’s historic preservation ordinance, both the Historic Preservation and Planning Boards denied the PMA’s application and recommended the City Council vote to maintain the historic building as contributing. In their vote in May 2024, the City Council rejected the determinations of these expert boards and approved an amended Order (180-23/24) to reclassify the building.

The Congress Street Historic District was created in 2009, ten years before the PMA purchased the building at 142 Free Street. The building was classified as a “contributing structure” within the district after a thorough review of all buildings in the district, using the standards set out in Portland’s Historic Preservation Ordinance. It has not seen any exterior changes since its designation in 2009.

This issue is much larger than the building at 142 Free Street: Can the City of Portland ignore its own clearly defined ordinance? The land use rules are clearly set so everyone knows what is possible when they acquire a protected property. The City’s Historic Preservation Ordinance, which has been instrumental in Portland’s resurgence over the last thirty years and protecting the special place we love, is very clear. We will do all we can to protect our ordinance and preservation program and ask you stand with us.

Thank you to everyone who spoke, wrote, or emailed in support of the building’s preservation during this process. The public support against reclassification has been overwhelming.

Our Position

Greater Portland Landmarks supports the PMA’s goal to expand and increase access to its programs and exhibitions with exciting new architecture that connects to what is special about Portland. However, it is essential to uphold the integrity of Portland’s historic preservation ordinance and ensure that its clear standards are applied fairly and properly.

Historic districts are not intended to deny change; they protect an area’s strong sense of place by preserving buildings that contribute to it and ensuring new design adds meaningfully to it as well. While not an individual landmark such as the former Union Station whose demolition in 1961 catalyzed the foundation of Greater Portland Landmarks to protect Portland’s significant and unique historic character, the former Chamber of Commerce Building at 142 Free Street contributes to the historic character and sense of place that the Congress Street Historic District was designated to protect.

We believe a design solution that expands the museum to meet its programmatic needs while retaining significant features of the historic building within the streetscape would be the best possible outcome – both for the museum, as a steward of art and culture, and the city. We are committed to working with the museum and the City towards a positive outcome.

Our Appeal

Greater Portland Landmarks’ Board of Trustees made a principled decision to appeal the City Council’s May 2024 vote, in commitment to our mission, to uphold the integrity of Portland's historic preservation ordinance and promote the many benefits of historic districts. This is not just focused on the fate of this one building, but on the broader policy implications of the City Council’s vote not following clear standards in the Land Use Code.

GPL’s attorneys at the law firm of Murray, Plumb & Murray filed a lawsuit in Cumberland County Superior Court in August 2024 asking the court to vacate the Portland City Council vote on May 20 to reclassify the former Chamber of Commerce building at 142 Free Street, allowing it to be demolished by the PMA.

The appeal, filed under Rule 80B of the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure, also asks that the matter be remanded back to the City Council with instructions to deny the PMA’s request to reclassify 142 Free Street as a noncontributing structure within the Congress Street Historic District. Greater Portland Landmarks does not oppose the expansion of the PMA campus, which is already home to several historic buildings. However, we find no basis for the reclassification of the 142 Free Street building as a non-contributing structure and firmly believe the PMA can achieve its expansion plans without demolishing it.

Our briefs challenge both the factual and legal basis for the amended order approved by a 6 – 3 majority of the Council. This decision was an error of law for three clear reasons:

  1. The Council misinterpreted the City's current zoning ordinance which required it to apply the "Minimum criteria for designation" and the "integrity of landmarks and historic districts" in their decision. The City’s historic preservation ordinance spells out the criteria and procedures that the City Council may follow to rescind or amend a designation. 142 Free Street meets four of the established criteria for designation as a contributing structure to a historic district, and its 1926 redesign by John Calvin Stevens is described in the 2009 historic district designation report as part of its historical and architectural significance. Satisfying even one of these standards would have been sufficient for the Council to find the building to be contributing, but because it meets four of them, and has good integrity to the 1926 design, the Council had no choice but to find that the building’s contributing classification should have remained in place.

  2. The Council misinterpreted the Integrity Standard in Portland's ordinance, which references accepted federal standards, and reached its decision without substantial evidence in the record to support it. Integrity is defined as a building’s ability to convey its significance through a combination of several qualities. Buildings are understood to change over time and that later changes may gain significance. For this reason, a period of significance is defined so that significant later changes may also be protected. The Council’s vote failed to consider the building’s early 20th century significance when evaluating its integrity, which resulted in a serious misinterpretation of the integrity standard.

  3. The Council abused its discretion by failing to review and assess the findings and recommendations by the Historic Preservation Board and the Planning Board, both of which strongly recommended against reclassification. The plain language of Portland’s land use code makes it clear that the two boards were meant to provide expertise to help inform the Council’s decision, rather than giving the Council unfettered authority. 

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