Prison land reuse team gets orders Thomaston committee lists ‘musts’ and ‘wants’ for development plan

THOMASTON – The “big house” had a water view, but no fancy homes will front the St. George River when the former Maine State Prison property gets a makeover.

The development team hired by the town to create reuses for the 15.6 acres has been advised to plan no single-family high-end housing along the water, Selectwoman Lee-Ann Upham said.

Upham, who serves on the Thomaston Redevelopment Committee, said the waterfront is to be reserved for the public.

Two weeks ago the deed to the Route 1 state-owned parcel was finally turned over to the town.

In recent months, the committee interviewed six groups, which provided qualifications for redesigning the land that was once home to Maine’s maximum security prison. After 178 years, the prison was demolished in 2002 and buried on site. A new complex in neighboring Warren now serves as the Maine State Prison.

The deed provides the town protections should hazardous waste issues arise, committee vice chairman Ed Ludwig said last week.

From interviewing, Berman Associates of Portland emerged as the leader, Ludwig said.

He said the company is redesigning the old Maine Youth Center in South Portland.

The team consists of developer Richard Berman; Jim Hatch Associates of North Whitefield, a housing specialist; Terrence J. DeWan & Associates of Yarmouth, a landscape architect; and consulting engineers Tom Gorrill and Al Palmer of Gorrill Palmer of Gray, specialists in site design and traffic engineering.

Frank O’Hara of Planning Decisions of Hallowell is working on a market feasibility study. Although the committee has selected the team, selectmen will vote next month on the recommendation.

The team has been given lists of “musts” and “wants,” Ludwig said. For example, four acres along the river side of the property must be retained as public land.

“[There] could be development in it, but community development,” he said.

The finer details of the team relationship are subject to negotiation, Ludwig said, which might involve part of the land going to the developers. One of the project essentials is that the town’s investment, including the $285,000 paid to the state for the land, must be recovered.

“The town wants to realize a profit from it, too,” Ludwig said.

The “musts” include:

. A portion of land retained for public use.

. Extension of public trail and good public views.

. Reasonable mixed use.

. Property tax revenue.

. Access from Wadsworth and Ship streets.

. Design based on guidelines that stress that the land be walkable, have open space, and protect local streets, human scale and privacy.

One hope is that the project will include a community center, as well as a library, the cost of which would also be negotiated with developers. Some sort of small retail component to serve that end of town is also desirable.

The wish list of “wants” is far longer than “musts,” including: cluster residences; underground utilities; acquiring contiguous state-owned land; new town hall to free Watts Hall for retail; an amphitheater; a farmers market; and public gardens

The development should seamlessly tie into the downtown district, Ludwig said.

“The density has to be higher, more like downtown,” he added.

Once selectmen give the go-ahead, the next steps are to define the project scope, conduct market research, develop concept plans, a master plan and implement the project, he said.

“Thomaston’s never going to be the center of the stage” in the midcoast, Ludwig said. “But we’d like to be an integral part of it.”