September 2012 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 5. PORTLAND YACHT SERVICES TO EXPAND
PORTLAND – Last year the marine world of Maine watched a major boat yard project, Front Street Shipyard, capture the attention of Belfast and the immediate area. However, it would resonate well beyond the borders of the State as it made headlines in the marine press world-wide. Another project that has just been made public, and would be similar in scope, has been proposed for the water- front of Portland at Canal Landing at 40 West Commercial Street. This 16 acre boat yard has been put-forth by Portland Yacht Services’ owner, Phineas Sprague, Jr., who has operated Portland Yacht Services (PYS) on the eastern end of Portland’s waterfront for over 25 years.
Sprague explained, “We put the prop- erty (the present location of PYS, 58 Fore Street) on the market in 2007. We had a guy who was interested in the property. My issue was what do you do with the boat show, the fl ower show and the boat yard? He had agreed that he would help us buy a new boat yard and make a swap. I had to go and identify where I was going to put the boat yard and he gave me the courage to do that. I went out and cut a deal on a new location. Well, this spring he changed his mind and when he bailed out. We stepped back and took another look at everything because life has changed since 2007. One of the things that has changed is the boat and fl ower shows, which are really solid. Our event business here has taken off. Also, the historic buildings in the middle of the site are really important and the marina is too.” The decision was made, retain the prop- erty at 58 Fore Street and use it for events and a marina. Then proceed with relocating the boat yard to a new site.
The new site is located just west of the Casco Bay Bridge. There are two property owners involved. One of them is Pan Am, which is formerly Guilford Railroad. The other is Unitil, which is a gas company. The location consists of three lots of land, two of them belong to Unitil. They are basically surrounded by the Pan Am property. Phin has agreed to lease two pieces of this prop- erty and purchase the other.
There are some issues that will need to be dealt with. One portion of this property housed a gasifi cation plant and so there are some environmental work that needs to be. Phin added, “There is remediation that needs to be done on this site and that has been pretty well identifi ed by Unitil and the Maine DEP. There are dense liquid petroleum products and that dense means that it is more dense than water so it sinks. That is all going to be removed. There is something called box waste, which is part of the gasifi cation pro- cess. That all need to be removed too.” Phin continued, “We have got three
hurdles. The fi rst hurdle is permitting. Then I’ve got to make sure I can come up with the
funding, which the bank says they will do. Finally, is to begin the fi rst phase. I guess there is a fourth one and that is to look into the future.” The fi rst phase is already underway. Phase one is going to be a storage building, about 20,000 square feet and a boat ramp, clean the site up and make it level. Then they will move all the boats now stored at PYS to the new site. Phin added, “We have already talked to the city planning department and development director. We have also talked to some of the neighbors to see what upset them and what didn’t. We are entirely within the zoning and we are not asking for any vari- ances. Basically it is fairly straight forward and we do not anticipate any problems, but who knows.”
The next phases will include a Travelift basin and they are thinking about a 200-ton Travelift, a paint shop, retail space, broker- age and parking.
When contemplating the yard what else would make the facility even more im- pressive? How about a 1,500 ton dry-dock, which quickly became part of the fi rst phase. Phin explained, “I made an arrangement with Roger Hale for the dry-dock. After this I wondered what are we going to do with it? So we started looking for niche markets, like large catamarans, because they have a limited number of places that can haul them. The fi rst boat that we were going to call, well called us. She had discovered America somewhere just south of Rockland and had damaged her false keel. She was 72-feet long, but it was her 36-foot beam that was a problem.”
They hauled this boat at the end of July, made the repairs and the owner was back on the water quickly.
What about the present location of PYS,
Phin said, “We are going to start to put more money into these buildings. By keeping them I know that they are not going to get torn down. Now, it is also worth putting money into them.”
Where PYS is located is the former Portland Company, and this site is rich in history. In the 1800 and 1900s they con- structed all sorts of steam engines. Over 150 vessels were powered with machinery from this company. It also is home to the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad and Museum. “We want to have a marine complex where you can come down and buy anything related to the water,” said Phin. “We need to be in the position to respond to the market as the market changes. To fi nd a market niche that is strong. This is a commitment to the harbor for a long, long time. Who knows what the future is going to bring. When people make out their short list I want to be on it.
Sprague has identifi ed that there is an opportunity to service the commercial ves-
The proposed boat yard facility by Portland Yacht Services.
sels of the area and beyond. With a dry-dock this is well within his reach.
Meetings with the City of Portland have already begun, The City has said that the proposed yard would meet the requirements of Portland’s Waterfront Port Development Zone. Phin has also been told that he needs
to hold on neighborhood meeting before the Planning Board can begin their review process.
There is no question that this is an am- bitious project, and even though there are a number of great boat yards on the coast, there is still room for another.
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