Maine College of Art plans dormitory for 180 students in downtown Portland
But the developer and the college are concerned about the city s plan to move its social services and public health programming to an office building next door.
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The Maine College of Art is planning to convert a 108-year-old, six-story office building in downtown Portland into a new student residence hall.
College officials and the developer of the dorm publicly disclosed the project this week while raising concerns about the city’s recently announced plans to move some social services and public health operations to the building next door. They cited safety concerns and called on the city to slow down its plan to more carefully consider the move.
Portland councilors to discuss shelter moratorium in Bayside
The item is being discussed at the request of the association that represents the city neighborhood with the highest concentration of shelter beds and social services.
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A Portland City Council committee will discuss Tuesday whether the city can – and should – enact a moratorium to prevent any new emergency shelters from opening before new licensing standards can be finalized.
The item is being discussed at the request of the association that represents the Bayside neighborhood, an area that contains the highest concentration of shelter beds and social services in the city. No councilor has endorsed the proposal, though several have expressed a willingness to discuss it.