GORHAM – Thanks to a Gorham couple, a once-rundown fraternity house in Gorham Village has taken on new life – and town officials couldn’t be happier.
Peter and Dawn Wentworth bought the two-story building at 27 Preble St. from the town in 2010 with an $81,000 winning bid. With a foreclosed tax lien, Gorham had seized the property, owned by an off-campus fraternity at the University of Southern Maine, amid a crackdown on rowdy student behavior in downtown Gorham.
The Wentworths spent months renovating the building themselves and have finally relocated their family embroidery and screen printing business, NESA Inc., to the first floor of the house. The business they founded about three decades ago had been previously headquartered in the Gorham Industrial Park. The business decorates apparel and hats for a variety of customers, including professional businesses, clubs, stores and athletic teams.
The renovated building now even has a new address – 21 Elm St. The Wentworths, who have been Gorham residents for 32 years, live across Preble Street from the business.
When the building housed Gamma Omega of Phi Kappa Sigma, Gorham officials had cited multiple code violations at the dilapidated property.
After acquiring it, the Wentworths completely renovated the building with a new roof, gas heating system, new windows, doors, walls, floors, plumbing, electrical wiring and landscaping.
Family members did the bulk of the work. “Everything is new,” Dawn Wentworth said.
On the exterior, original trim and clapboards were preserved. The building sports a fresh coat of blue paint.
On Tuesday, four Gorham officials viewed the transformation firsthand. It marked the first occasion Town Manager David Cole had been in the building since the Wentworths took over.
“The last time I walked through here I didn’t dare to step certain places,” Cole said.
“It looks great inside and out,” Gorham Zoning Administrator David Galbraith said Tuesday, as Peter Wentworth escorted the officials on a tour.
While the street floor houses the business and office, the upper floor has a brand new apartment. The town stipulated that the building would never again be a fraternity or sorority house.
“We’re going to be selective,” Peter Wentworth said about who would become tenants in the apartment.
The apartment features include three bedrooms, 11?2 baths, dining room and kitchen, along with a washer and dryer.
“It’s gorgeous upstairs,” Arthur Handman, chairman of Gorham Economic Development Corp., said.
Preble Street, once nicknamed Party Street, had long been known for its raucous behavior with drinking, vandalism and public indecency. But times have changed since the town clamped down.
“This whole neighborhood is under control,” Peter Wentworth said.
One fraternity house remains as a neighbor on Preble Street. Wentworth praised the Delta Chi fraternity as a great neighbor. One volunteered to help Dawn Wentworth with raking.
“These guys have been very good,” she said.
The former fraternity house at the corner of Preble and Elm streets in Gorham is pictured before Peter and Dawn Wentworth renovated it.
This renovated former fraternity house in Gorham Village now houses a business and a second floor apartment.
Peter Wentworth bought and renovated a rundown fraternity house that now houses the family business. Wentworth explains embroidery equipment to Gorham officials, from left, Town Planner Tom Poirier, Zoning Administrator David Galbraith (obscured), Town Manager David Cole, and Gorham Economic Development Corp. Chairman Arthur Handman.
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