Maine History Online

Text by Candace Kanes

Images from Maine Historical Society, Pejepscot Historical Society,

Forty to 50 years after some downtown buildings in Maine communities were demolished, the structures still evoke strong feelings.

Urban renewal, a post World War II American phenomenon that flourished in the 1960s and 1970s, offered federal assistance to reduce what were described as urban slums and blighted areas, and replace them with new structure, highways, access roads, low-income housing or other projects that would improve the appearance of communities and the economic viability of cities.

In Portland, for instance, the removal in August 1961 of Union Station, a Romanesque revival structure built in 1888 on St. John Street, is still remembered. Out of its destruction was born Greater Portland Landmarks in 1964, which aims to save and protect historic places in Portland, among other goals.

The loss of Union Station was listed among the 60 top stories of the 20th century by the Portland Press Herald in 2000.

Also removed and remembered fondly are the Grand Trunk Railroad Station, the Falmouth Hotel, and the Portland Post Office at Exchange and Middle streets.

Torn down in 1965, the Post Office is remembered by a trompe l'oeil mural that features the architectural elements of the old building on a building that remains nearby.

In Portland, urban renewal brought low-income housing developments at Kennedy Park in the Bayside area in 1964, with more units built in subsequent years; Munjoy South, a housing development at Mountfort-Congress-Fore streets; and Franklin Towers, a high-rise apartment building for senior citizens, among other projects.

Franklin Arterial cut through a neighborhood and provided access to commuters who worked in the city. Buildings were removed to provide parking garages and office structures.

It also brought the widening of a four-block section of Spring Street to accommodate construction of the Cumberland County Civic Center and an adjacent parking garage, along with a hotel nearby.

Even as benefits of the projects are discussed, the loss of classic architecture and grand structures is mourned.

Portland was not alone in removing grand buildings to bring in modern architecture and better accessibility by automobiles and commuters.

Brunswick's Town Hall was torn down in 1961, a fact Brunswick residents remember and remind town officials about whenever other buildings are slated for demolition. Its replacement lacked the architectural interest and features of the old structure.

In Bangor, urban renewal began officially in 1958. In 1964, the city accepted federal funds to remove slums and pay only a quarter of the costs of building new structures. A number of downtown buildings had burned in the Great Fire of 1911, but some that remained fell to urban renewal.

City Hall was torn down. City offices moved to the Federal building and a new federal building was built.

Like other communities, Bangor also tore down its Union Station and, like Portland, replaced it with a strip mall. Also torn down were the Bijou Theater, the Flat Iron Building, and other downtown structures.

A legacy of the effects – physical, aesthetic and emotional – of urban renewal has been efforts to save textile mills, old schools and other buildings – and find new uses for them rather than tearing them down.