Mahoney Reimagined 

The future Mahoney City Center would:

• Create a welcoming cultural and community hub downtown with public gathering spaces, fun outdoor features, and a new Main Library on site
  
  
• Create a consolidated service center and one-stop shop for community members to connect with staff and conduct their city business
  
  
• Solve the facilities issues the city faces more affordably and with a longer lifespan than some other options
  
  
• Enable the continued public use of Mahoney for generations to come with attention to the building’s historic significance
  
  
• Create opportunities for redevelopment on sites that would be vacated, like the current City Hall
  
  
• Revitalize our main public safety buildings to provide top-notch fire, EMS and police services to our community

As part of the overall facilities project, the Central Fire Station would be rebuilt at its current location on Broadway, and a new Police Station would be constructed on the Mahoney property.

City Council established the Mahoney City Center Committee made up of South Portland residents, City Councilors, City staff and others, who will guide components of the project. Expand the tab below to learn more about the Committee and how to engage.

Voters will ultimately decide if the plan moves forward in a Bond Referendum vote tentatively scheduled for November 2026.

Background and General Information

South Portland City Council voted on September 3, 2024 for the City to pursue combining its offices on the Mahoney School property after six + years of discussion about the City’s facilities needs and two years of work by the City’s facilities committee. (See the Facilities Committee Study (2024) and committee meeting minutes.)

Under the plan, City offices currently located at City Hall, Assessing, the Hamlin Building, and the Main Library, would be consolidated at Mahoney. A new police station would be constructed on the Mahoney property, and Central Fire Station would be rebuilt at its current location on Broadway.

View the Mahoney Concept Master Plan. (Please note that this is not the final design. However, City Council directed the City Manager to pursue this general concept.)

This option not only solves the City's significant facilities needs, but also provides the greatest potential for affordable housing to be developed on the current City Hall, Library and Hamlin Building sites (should Council support this).

Current Status:

Based on the City Council’s guidance at its February 17, 2026 workshop, the Mahoney renovation would include the theater and current gym space for future public use, but the project would no longer include the Library, nor would it include the Police Station on the Mahoney site. Those facilities, and the Central Fire Station, will be handled separately by staff and Council. (See the "News, Updates & Events" tab for recaps of meetings and key decisions by M3C and the City Council.)

Next Steps: 

The design team and M3C will continue to develop the Mahoney plan and cost estimates based on the feedback the committee received from the City Council. 

The goal is that by July 2026, the City Council will vote on a design and bond figure to put forward to voters in a Referendum on the scaled-back Mahoney project tentatively scheduled for November 2026. The City will continue to seek other sources of funding to help reduce the cost burden on taxpayers.

The Mahoney City Center Committee meets regularly to accomplish the duties set by the City Council. All meetings are open to the public and streamed live on SPC-TV. Watch the live feed at: https://bit.ly/SPCTV_Live. See the Mahoney City Center Committee tab for more information about the Committee and its meetings.

Please see the "News, Updates & Events" tab for the latest information.

City Council established the Mahoney City Center Committee (M3C), made up of South Portland residents, City Councilors, City staff and others (view members), who will guide the transformation of Mahoney into an asset that serves our entire community for the next 100 years. 

Meetings

M3C generally meets on one Tuesday each month at 6 PM in City Hall Council Chambers. All meetings are open to the public. A public comment period opens and ends every meeting.

Meetings are livestreamed on SPC-TV (Spectrum Cable Channel 2) and online at: bit.ly/SPCTV_Live

Meetings of the committee are tentative planned for the dates below. Please consult the City Calendar to confirm a meeting date, time and location. The agenda for each meeting will be available on BoardDocs by 4:30 PM the Thursday prior to each meeting.

2026 Meetings:

• January 27
• February 24
• March 24
• April 29 (Wednesday meeting)
• May 26
• June 23
• July 28
• August 18
• September 22
• October 20

Contact

Email the Committee at M3C@southportland.gov.

Please note that Committee members do not generally reply via email, as all substantive communications shall take place during public meetings per the Committee's Rules of Procedure.

Guiding Principles

• Guiding Principles for the project approved by M3C on August 26, 2025

Site Plan & Conceptual Design

• Selected Mahoney Renovation Option(s). At its February 17, 2026 meeting, the City Council directed the design team and M3C to proceed with the Mahoney renovation options which blend presented Option A1 plus some elements in Option B1, with no Library or Police Station on the site.
• Updated Site Plan. Slightly modified from the original, approved by M3C on October 28, 2025.
• Conceptual Design approved by M3C on December 16, 2025

Original Mahoney School Floor Plans

• Level B
• Level 1
• Level 2

Watch outreach events and short videos

Watch Mahoney City Center Committee meetings