Hello!

Shara Dee here, the city's communications officer. I recently sent a note to those who have shared feedback and questions about the Mahoney project via our Ask & Share form. If you have not yet submitted a question or comment, I encourage you to do so! Today I'm writing to share an adapted version of my note, as it contains information that you may find helpful as someone who has expressed interest in receiving updates about the Mahoney project.

A little about me: I live in South Portland (Meeting House Hill) with my two sons, and one of the things I love most about our community is how engaged so many of us are with the local things that matter to us. I'm also passionate about communication and my role with the city -- both getting accurate, timely information to the public and doing the very important work of listening.

I'm also a member of the Mahoney City Center Committee (M3C) and lead communications for the project. M3C had a great and productive meeting last night (Tuesday, June 24). We met project leaders from our design team, SMRT, and learned about the steps we'll take together to create a vision for a future city center at Mahoney. I also presented the communications plan for the project, which is designed to reach, educate, engage, and empower the community to make an informed decision when they vote in the future bond referendum. Despite an exciting thunder storm that caused power outages, we had a very productive and inspiring discussion. The meeting will be available on SPC-TV's Vimeo channel in the next few days in case you'd like to check it out.

As you may know, the City Council formed the Mahoney City Center Committee, made up of residents, City Councilors, staff and others, to create a plan to transform Mahoney into an asset that will serve the community for the next 100 years. I encourage you to learn more about the committee and the project at www.southportland.gov/mahoney. 

Consolidating city offices at Mahoney would create a single service center for residents and others who conduct business with the city. It would also solve the significant and costly facilities issues at several city buildings. These include building code non-compliance, ADA non-compliance, safety issues like inadequate fire alarm and sprinkler systems, space and programming limitations, significant MEP (mechanical, electrical and plumbing) problems, the presence of hazardous materials, and many more. (We'll be breaking these issues down plainly in forthcoming materials). 

Importantly, a new city center at Mahoney would also free up several city properties that would be vacated to potentially be developed as housing. Housing creation was a very important factor in the City Council's decision to pursue the Mahoney option. The future city center would also honor the importance of the history of Mahoney here in South Portland and create a community hub with public meeting spaces, a theater, a gym, and outdoor recreational spaces (details TBD).

The Mahoney City Center Committee is charged with assisting on certain design elements, communications and a fundraising plan. Voters like you will ultimately decide if the plan moves forward in a future bond referendum vote. Over the next 16 months, the committee, designers and the rest of the team will work to envision and design the space in collaboration with the community and arrive at a bond figure that voters will vote on, tentatively in November 2026.

I'm excited to continue connecting with you and others throughout the community as the project evolves. I hope that you'll continue to stay connected, curious and engaged as together we work to envision the future of Mahoney and our South Portland community. You can reach out to the committee any time at M3C@southportland.gov. If you'd ever like to reach me directly, you can email me at sdee@southportland.gov or call me at 207-347-4143.

All the best,
Shara Dee