Highlights

  

The City Community Development Program has successfully implemented projects to improve the livability of the City using CDBG funds since 2004.  Please read about a few of these beneficial projects below.

  

Thornton Heights Common 

Demolition and Clearance 

 Thornton Heights Commons Demolition and Clearance Grant. CDBG funds used to aid a local affordable Housing developer with the demolition and clearance of 611 Main Street. Decent, safe, healthy, and affordable housing options are in integral part of ensuring low-income families have access to quality education, health care and sustainable livelihoods.  The gap between rents and incomes continues to grow as rising costs extends a farther reach into towns and cities throughout Maine.  Presently, the greater Portland area for which this project is slated has less than a 4% rental vacancy rate. The Site where Thornton Heights Commons was a vacant parcel that formerly comprised the St. John’s Catholic Church, which closed in 2013. The property contained the former church building, school / classroom building, residence, asphalt parking lot, and wooded yard and gardens. New streetscape, sidewalks, and on-street parking were recently installed along the three adjacent roads as part of the Main Street Revitalization project undertaken by the City of South Portland in the recent past.  The Thornton Heights Commons development envisions a mix of residential and retail use that will contribute to the City’s housing stock while also helping to revitalize Main Street. As envisioned in the City of South Portland’s Comprehensive Plan, this project seeks to be the first step in achieving the following Main Street Community Commercial Hub goals:

 

1. Create a business district that balances pedestrian accessibility and safety with vehicular mobility
2. Create a mixed-use center that reconfigure Main Street as a City Street
3. Add retail and service businesses as well as increased residential options
4. Create a pedestrian friendly environment with buildings closer to the street

 

       Public Services  

• Meals on Wheels – Home-bound South Portland seniors received food and home visits
• Family Crisis Services – The Enhanced Police Intervention Collaboration (EPIC) program collaborated police officers with domestic violence victim advocates when responding to domestic violence incidents.
• Emergency Heating Assistance – General Assistance provided emergency heating assistance to low-income South Portland households                   
• Redbank Hub Personnel – The Redbank Hub continued to provide resources, community dinners, and after school programming, for the Redbank neighborhood. CDBG funded staffing and utility costs at the Hub.                                                                             
• Recreation Scholarships – Low-income South Portland youth received    scholarships to   attend summer camp
• Senior Bus Program – Administrative fees to transport South Portland     Seniors from their homes to the community center. 

     

 

 

 

REDBANK COMMUNITY CENTER

Redbank Community Center is located in the heart of the South Portland's West End neighborhood, just across from the Redbank Village leasing office. The City used CDBG funds to replace the gym floor, and bleachers. CDBG also funded renovations to the Kitchen, which included a dishwasher and ADA countertop. Fiber Optics and a new security system were also added to the community center.  

 

Before                                                                                               After 

         

 

 

                                   Street Scape Improvements 

Community Development Block Grant funds, provide assist with Public Infrastructure and facilities improvements in low-income target areas of the City. This year, those areas include Ferry Village and Knightville. 
 

               C Street                                                                                             GreenBelt 

      

 

 

 

  

Redbank Park

                       

 

This park is adjacent to the Redbank Community Center in the predominantly low-income Redbank neighborhood. In recent years, the former school property in Redbank Village that had stood vacant and vandalized was rehabilitated into the Community Center, and in the 2013 program year, the empty lot next to it was turned into the new Redbank Park thanks to CDBG funds. The park now features a permanent pavilion, bike racks, a playground, a basketball court, benches and trees, and has become a new focal point and amenity for the neighborhood as it works towards revitalization.

Read more about the park and its impact on the community!

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Mill Creek Transit Hub

 

This bus shelter/transit hub was financed by CDBG as well as Federal Transit Administration grants, City Bus Capital Reserve Funds, and City General Funds. The hub allows for timed transfers, and a comfortable and convenient experience for transit riders, providing indoor and outdoor waiting areas, seating, trash receptacles, a clock, route and schedule information, and outdoor landscaping. The structure was designed in accordance with the Knightville/Mill Creek neighborhood "Village Commercial" design standards to blend with the character of this unique mixed-use neighborhood. The project broke ground in June of 2013 and opened to the public in May of 2014. 

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