Issue of Aug. 15, 2008
Eighty-one years after it opened as Scarborough’s new high school, the converted Bessey School will reopen next month as a senior apartment building.
“Watching the transformation of my childhood schoolhouse was remarkable,” said Cynthia Milliken Taylor, president of Housing Initiatives of New Eng- land, which developed Bessey Commons, and a former Bessey School student. “It’s very rare to be able to see your dream lit- erally take shape, day by day.”
Generations of Scarborough students attended class in Bessey School, which served the town first as a high school, then as a middle school and most recently as an elementary school before closing in the 1980s.
The transformation of the school to senior housing was supported by the Maine State Housing Authority, which approved a 10-year, $7.8 mil- liontax-creditdealfortheproj- ect, and the town, which effec- tively donated the land Bessey School sits on by signing a 99- year, $1-a-year lease with the developers. The 54-apartment Bessey
Commons will be partially located in the old Bessey School building, with a newly con- structed modern wing housing the majority of occupants.
Thirty-three of the 54 apart- ments will be for seniors with incomes that are 50 percent or less of the area’s median income, with an estimated monthly rent of $600. The remaining 21 apartments will be for seniors with incomes that are 60 per- cent or less of the area’s medi- an income, with an estimated monthly rent of $728.
In addition to modern apart- ments, Bessey Commons will offer walking trails, exercise room, athletic facilities for a host of sports, an outdoor patio for cookouts, adult education courses, arts and crafts, bridge and bingo, and concerts across the street at Scarborough Memo- rial Park. It is handicapped accessible and offers free Inter- net access.
Scarborough town council- ors remain skeptical about the lynchpin of a town-center devel- opment proposed at Scarborough Downs – slot machines.
“They’re asking the town and the Town Council to gamble on gambling,” Councilor Judith Roy said after an Aug. 7 meet- ing, when developer Gene Beaudoin presented his propos- als to the Town Council. “I think it’s a very speculative presenta- tion. There’s no guarantees for the town. Their primary pur- pose is the racino. All the other things are pies in the sky, the concept of Main Street – we’ve already got Route 1. We don’t need Scarborough Downs’ Main Street.”
Beaudoin’s conceptual draw- ings show a planned “down- town” with a Main Street linking Route 1 and Payne Road, with downtown-style storefronts, pedestrian-friendly sidewalks, a police building, community cen- ter, offices and senior housing.
Scarborough’s comprehensive plan envisions a “town center” at Scarborough Downs – a place more pedestrian-friendly and well-defined than high-speed, multi-lane Route 1 – but resi- dents have refused to allow a casino at the track in the past.
Beaudoin and track officials say the project is not viable with- out the racino, in part because the infrastructure alone, such as sewer and power lines, would cost about $20 million.
Sen. Olympia Snowe looks under the hood of the BMW Hydrogen 7, the first hydrogen powered luxury sedan, Monday at Fort Allen Park in Portland. She was accompanied by Rep. Tom Allen and they both helped kick off the Hydrogen Road Tour, which is a 13-day cross-country trip ending in California. Both Allen and Snowe spoke in support of developing green technologies and lessening American dependency on foreign oil. Gary Higginbottom, executive director of Portland’s Hydrogen Energy Center, estimated that 500 to 700 people attended an event Sunday at Fort Williams Park in Cape Elizabeth showcasing hydrogen cars from seven major manufacturers. “There is no question that awareness was raised on the people who came (to Fort Williams) yesterday,” he said. “It was really quite phenome- nal.” The vehicles are expected to make 33 stops en route to California’s Santa Monica Pier. Local event sponsors were the Hydrogen Energy Center and Maine Clean Cities Coalition.
Members of the South Portland Historical Society have worried for months about whether they can raise the $400,000 needed to buy the historic Cushing Point’s house and make it a permanent home for the nonprofit.
Now the early 20th-century captain’s home may be theirs free of charge.
In an unexpected turn of events, the Portland Pipeline Corp. – which owns the prop- erty – is exploring whether to donate the old brick building to the historical society, as long as the group moves it to a new site. The Portland Pipeline board is expected to vote on the donation when it meets Sept. 16.
The news was welcomed by members of the South Portland City Council Monday night,
which heard a request by City Manager Jim Gailey to provide city land at the entrance of Bug Light Park as the new building site.
The house now occupies land at the end of Madison Street, which leads to Bug Light Park. The vacant city land is across Madison Street, not far from the public boat ramp.
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