In a region known for quaint downtowns, a community without one builds from scratch

Nov. 17—A town center is taking shape in the heart of Scarborough — just a few centuries late.

Streets, buildings and the beginnings of a village green are being built where the Scarborough Downs racetrack and grandstand stood for 70 years.

The company that's redeveloping the 525-acre former horse-racing facility is creating Maine's first purpose-built downtown from the ground up. The project is moving ahead whether or not longtime residents like the idea, and opinions are mixed.

It will be the centerpiece of The Downs, which already includes over 600 units of mixed housing off Route 1 and more than 50 companies in the business park off Payne Road. The state's first Costco opened at the edge of the Innovation District last fall.

Nearly seven years after Crossroads Holdings bought the property for $6.7 million, the developers aim to deliver on a promise to build a town center — a feature of many New England communities that's been missing in Scarborough since it was founded 366 years ago.

It won't look the way it would in colonial times, with livestock grazing on a grassy common flanked by a church, a courthouse, a blacksmith and other necessities of life in the 1700s and 1800s.

Instead, the developers are engineering a modern town center featuring the things that bring people together in the 21st century.

Their plan includes an office building for one of southern Maine's largest medical practices, a grocery store with national name recognition, and a town green for outdoor performances and pickup soccer games, as well as apartments, condominiums, retail shops and restaurants.

"In the past, building a town center happened much more organically, over time," said Dan Bacon, development director for The Downs. "We're doing it from scratch."

They've partnered with so-called place-making experts to help design a downtown district with a balance of businesses and amenities they hope will attract residents and customers from Scarborough and beyond.

They're giving pedestrians priority while making sure there's plenty of parking, including lots shared by users who need spaces at different times — people attending weekend events on the green could park in the medical office building's lot, Bacon said.

They plan to build a cobblestone "woonerf," a Dutch term for "a street for living," which is a road shared with pedestrians and cyclists that typically doesn't have curbs or sidewalks. It would run along the town green, so it could be closed to vehicles and host food trucks, craft fairs or overflow from larger events in the park.

"We want the town center to prioritize people and people-centered activities," Bacon said. "And it has to have housing so it's a 24-hour environment and a vital place that supports the businesses that locate there."

TOWN CENTER ENVY

After decades of envying other Maine communities with distinctive town centers — Saco, Brunswick and Camden, to name a few — some Scarborough residents can't wait to have one of their own. Others have disputed the need for it from the start and question whether the developers can pull it off.

"I think it's going to be very, very tricky," said Susan Hamill, a leader of a local taxpayers' group. "It's a gamble. They're going to have to get everything right."

Hamill said she's concerned about increasing traffic congestion in Scarborough, but she'd like to have some of the promised amenities, including a recreation center that was planned but fell through.

"I'm patient," she said. "They have to get people to drive there, and not just on their way to Costco."

So far, the developers, including Michaud and Risbara family members who live in town, have delivered on their overall goals. They pitched The Downs as a $615 million project that would be built within 20 years.

According to their yearly update to town councilors last month, they have completed $326 million in construction projects that generate nearly $3.5 million annually in property taxes.

They've built a variety of apartments, condominiums and single-family homes for nearly 1,000 people, including about 50 school-age children, 12 memory-care patients and 78 low-income residents age 55 or older.

They've spent $81 million to build or improve roads and utilities in and around The Downs, said spokesperson Diana Nelson. They've also donated 25 acres to the Scarborough Land Trust and plan to maintain nearly 100 acres of wetlands as undeveloped green space.

All work must meet town zoning that was designed for the site — back when Bacon was the town planner — and a 30-year credit enhancement agreement that would reimburse about $80 million in property taxes if the developers meet certain goals.

They're way ahead of schedule, already satisfying performance standards through 2034, including requirements for commercial development, assessed property value and infrastructure improvements, said Town Manager Tom Hall.

"They have delivered on every front," Hall said. "Now we're all anxious to see how the town center phase develops."

How Scarborough wound up without a traditional town center is a matter of history.

Throughout New England and elsewhere, town centers typically developed near a crossroad, seaport or mill, and later near railroads, said Scott Hanson, an architectural historian, preservation consultant and author of "Restoring Your Historic House."

Some had a village green, common or square rimmed by a church, town hall, tavern, shops, professional offices and homes of prominent citizens. Additional houses were built on streets leading to the center.

Scarborough and Falmouth both formed without town centers because they flanked Portland, a rapidly growing seaport, Hanson said.

With economies rooted in farming and fishing, each town developed dispersed smaller settlements that typically included a church, a one-room schoolhouse, a Grange hall or a store. Scarborough had several villages, including Pine Point, Prouts Neck, Dunstan Corner, Oak Hill and Pleasant Hill.

"Post-World War II, the automobile dramatically altered the development of all communities," Hanson said.

In the 1950s and 1960s, both Scarborough and Falmouth developed retail strips along Route 1 and dispersed suburban-style housing. Now, similar communities across the U.S. are trying to create town centers to enhance social connections, reduce sprawl and increase sustainability, he said.

"Many of these developments are almost getting it right," Hanson said. "What's often missing are the more community-oriented structures, like churches and town halls, post offices and community centers. The result is a Disney-like effect."

Falmouth updated its zoning in recent years to promote village-like development along Route 1. Years before Scarborough Downs held its last race, the town drafted zoning for the property that called for a town center. Scarborough also has created a centralized municipal and school campus off Route 1, near the Oak Hill shopping area.

But it still doesn't have a walkable downtown that feels like a community gathering place and might attract residents from other towns.

"Creating that is more of a challenge at The Downs because it has always been isolated from the rest of the town," Hanson said.

Even more difficult may be manufacturing a sense of community that will weather the social and economic changes that are sure to come. It's a hard-to-define aspect of town centers that is taken for granted in many communities, said Maine State Historian Earle Shettleworth.

"The challenge is making choices that will have the long-term durability of a traditional town center," Shettleworth said. "We've all experienced how frequently trends change these days. What will be the long-term durability and adaptability of their choices?"

The town center at The Downs will include 320,000 square feet of retail space, a boutique hotel and 240 residential units. InterMed plans to build its fifth location — a 60,000 square foot ambulatory surgical center with quick care, imaging and medical practices — near the town green.

Sixty market-rate apartments are nearly complete, and construction of 96 luxury condominiums is underway. The nonprofit 3i Housing of Maine plans to build 51 subsidized apartments for adults with physical disabilities that will be equipped with technology to assist with everyday tasks.

The first of several planned retail and office buildings is nearly finished where Market Street starts at Haigis Parkway. Allagash Brewing Co. plans to build a brewhouse and tasting room next door, and the developers are in talks with a grocery story that's expected to be announced soon.

The developers are working with PCA Inc., a place-making design firm in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Wilder, a Boston firm that develops mixed-use properties featuring national, regional and local businesses. Wilder's holdings include Freeport Village Station, a retail complex near the L.L.Bean campus, and Arsenal Yards, a former mall in Watertown, Massachusetts, that now includes 425 residences.

Wilder is collaborating with The Boulos Co., the Portland firm that's been working with The Downs since 2018. Their goal is to create a dynamic and sustainable community hub that will serve as a cornerstone of growth and innovation for the community and the region.

Bacon, the development director, said it will be a few years before the town center looks like it does in architect's renderings. The InterMed building will be completed by fall 2026, followed by other buildings around the town green and the woonerf in 2027.

People will have to be patient, he said, but no one has higher expectations for The Downs than he does. He admits it's a bit intimidating.

"The town center is pulling it all together," he said. "It's a blank canvas."

Copy the Story Link