Mixed-use five-story building proposed for Gorham’s town center
The skyline of Gorham could be in for a big change, as a local developer envisions a five-story, retail-and-residential site in Gorham Village, the town center.
The multi-story building being proposed by Gorham-based Great Falls Construction definitely falls into the "mixed-use" category — in addition to 30 market-rate apartments, the building would also house a bowling alley on the first floor and a wine bar on the top floor, according to the Portland Press Herald.
Though the addition of a bowling alley into downtown Gorham is sure to be welcome by students living in the dorms at the nearby University of Southern Maine campus, the idea of a five-story building being introduced into the mostly residential area is expected to gain a few detractors from neighbors.
"It's probably going to block somebody's view. It's probably going to cast a shadow over somebody's house," Tom Ellsworth, director of the Gorham Economic Development Corp., told the Press Herald. "The public can be very persuasive."
Ellsworth added that the positive reputation Great Falls Construction has within the town will likely quell some complaints, saying "the community is ecstatic" about a prior project in the heart of the town that replaced a vacant gas station with a Subway sandwich shop and Aroma Joe's Coffee shop.
"If there's anybody who is going to be able to make it work," Ellsworth told the Press Herald, it's Great Falls Construction.
If Great Falls Construction gets the green light for the project, the company said it hopes to be finished with construction by fall 2017.