Biddeford Revealed (In pictures!) (Portland, Lewiston: fit in, crime, how much)

[elston]

Irfox:

As Bobby Dylan sang......"I'll let you be in my dream if you let me be in yours."

I have a very similar vision for the towns and the bridge to link them would be beautiful. The location and the Saco River and the railroad connection to Boston...and Biddeford Pool...and proximity to Kennebunkport and Wells......it has a lot going for it.

There is a great building on the main street of Saco that says "Theater" I dont think it is a theatre any longer.....Saco also has a very beautiful library and the Acadamy campus lends it a nice New England Village atmosphere. Further out they let it get junked up with fast food joints.....but from there all the way down town to the river it is really nice and Saco Island has great potential.....endless really.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by elston

Irfox:

As Bobby Dylan sang......"I'll let you be in my dream if you let me be in yours."

I have a very similar vision for the towns and the bridge to link them would be beautiful. The location and the Saco River and the railroad connection to Boston...and Biddeford Pool...and proximity to Kennebunkport and Wells......it has a lot going for it.

There is a great building on the main street of Saco that says "Theater" I dont think it is a theatre any longer.....Saco also has a very beautiful library and the Acadamy campus lends it a nice New England Village atmosphere. Further out they let it get junked up with fast food joints.....but from there all the way down town to the river it is really nice and Saco Island has great potential.....endless really.

I love TA's campus. I had the opportunity to walk through it not so long ago. I know the building you're referring to with the Theater title... I don't think it's a theater. I think the library right there on Main St. (Is it the "Dyer Library"? I'm not sure on the name) and the old homes in that area are gorgeous. It's a great area with a lot of potential.

Since I had a few free minutes and I enjoy tinkering with Google Earth and Paint, I came up with a brief (and sloppy) model of what I could see happening in Biddeford/Saco with some time and money:



The Orange lines are pedestrian walkways. Along the streets, this may simply mean slightly wider sidewalks, enhanced crosswalks and that's about it. The pedestrian bridge is the sloppy illustration with the intersecting orange lines.

The bright green is parkland/ Green Space. In the center of the Mill Complex on the Island that I colored green (it's currently a parking lot), I think a plaza style space would work well too IF there were stores or restaurants along the mill facing the plaza (Like Plaza Mayor or other great European plazas)... otherwise, just green space would work.

The blue "paint" next to the orange walkway was just a notation to mark where extensive renovation work would need to be done. For this area to connect with the core of the mill, you would need to cut a hole in this narrow part of the mill. A nice archway would be really inviting, but they shouldn't stop there. The whole section should have glass along the ground floor to allow people in the middle of the plaza/ park to see out towards the river. The interior of this "glassed" space would make great gallery or exhibit space for a small museum (maybe an art or industrial museum?), but it could also work for shops or a restaurant. In any case, the glassed first floor would really open it up and make it a warm and inviting place.

Finally, part of the area behind the Train Station should be left as park space, but the rest should be set aside for new development and a parking garage or two (to make up for the space we turned into parkland).

Sure, it's a pipe dream, but It's fun to dream.

[elston]

like I say...."I will let you be in my dream if you let me be in yours" I am so glad to talk with someone else who has the vision.....if I had the money to invest in Maine...(I don't)...I couldnt imagine a more pregnant proposition than Saco/Biddeford....It Is Waiting To Happen. It has location, transportation, history, and great buildings....I really get excited about it.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by elston

like I say...."I will let you be in my dream if you let me be in yours" I am so glad to talk with someone else who has the vision.....if I had the money to invest in Maine...(I don't)...I couldnt imagine a more pregnant proposition than Saco/Biddeford....It Is Waiting To Happen. It has location, transportation, history, and great buildings....I really get excited about it.

Me too. It gets frustrating when you try to describe it to someone who really doesn't see the potential. I doubt it'll be long before something good happens here.

[mainebrokerman]

Originally Posted by elston

like I say...."I will let you be in my dream if you let me be in yours" I am so glad to talk with someone else who has the vision.....if I had the money to invest in Maine...(I don't)...I couldnt imagine a more pregnant proposition than Saco/Biddeford....It Is Waiting To Happen. It has location, transportation, history, and great buildings....I really get excited about it.

i believe the state of maine has develomental grants to transform and upgrade many old mill buildings,
many many old brick mills across the state are being/or have been developed.

i agree elston, the architecture of these old buildings are incredible,

i worked in saco many moons ago, and went thru biddeford alot, there is a tranformation taken place, slow but steady

[lookinforahome]

I love TA's campus. I had the opportunity to walk through it not so long ago. I know the building you're referring to with the Theater title... I don't think it's a theater. I think the library right there on Main St. (Is it the "Dyer Library"? I'm not sure on the name) and the old homes in that area are gorgeous. It's a great area with a lot of potential.

Well the Theater building was actually the Mutual Theater up until about 2 decades ago, it's a bank now (with a brand new drive thru! Sadly the only recent Saco development downtown). The Thornton campus is nice, but I go to school there so it gets boring after awhile .
Actually there is development at TA! New dorms...they are coming along...

This website shows a lot of Saco's history:
http://www.sacomaine.org/johnhaley/haley_map.shtml

There was a plan to build a pedestrian bridge across the river. It was still in early development last I heard of it, I'm not sure if any progress was made.

This shows some of the new ideas for Biddeford mills on 2 pages (Riverdam one and Biddeford mills one, I already posted this but again):
Archetype Architects

This is the old plan for the mills that just changed a couple months ago, but the new developer says he will probably keep most of the plans:

Biddeford Mill District Master Plan (http://www.cssboston.com/projects/biddeford/index.htm - broken link)

The juicy part:
http://www.cssboston.com/projects/biddeford/documents/PublicMtg13%20Nov2008pdf.pdf (broken link)

[lookinforahome]

I just realized I forgot to post this one. I think I read awhile ago about plans to fix the bell tower.

[elston]

What is that building "lookinforahome"?

Is your screen name from the boll weavil song?

[lookinforahome]

That building is Biddeford city hall.

No it is not from that song I made it because I'm looking for a city to live after high school that I like a lot.

[elston]

Good Luck to you.....I am sort of hoping you end up in Biddeford....I didnt realize that you were in HS.....you will have time to see it come back and claim its new place in the patchwork quilt of Maine! Your vision would be good for the town. Everything Old Is New Again.

But if you grew up in Saco/Biddeford.....it is good to take a couple of years and travel around a bit and see the big wide world.....before settling down.