The Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine (CMTM) officially opened last Thursday, June 24, in its new 30,000-sf location at Thompson’s Point along the Fore River in Portland.
This location allows the facility to expand it programming and services in ways that its former 15,000-sf location, in Portland’s Arts District, restricted. The new building—offering the state-of-the-art Maddy’s Theatre with 100 seats, a STEM science center, a floor devoted to arts, culture, and community, and offices and meeting rooms—opens with limited capacity and other protocols in place to protect visitors and staff during the pandemic. Once it opens fully, the Museum and Theatre to reach over 200,000 visitors per year.
Bruner/Cott Architects led this project, which connects the CMTM to the site’s industrial shipping and railroad heritage. “We began this project nearly six years ago, building on our firm’s long history of museum and gallery design,” recalls firm Principal Jason Forney. “A true collaboration between our firm and our client has produced a building that embodies the Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine’s mission and goals for its new venue, certain to attract visitors from near and far.”
The three-floor building’s proportions and window patterns are inspired by Thompson Point’s historic brick structures and steel cross-bracing. The exterior cladding of colorful metal shingles is arranged in a dynamic pattern. An outdoor play area is adjacent to the waterfront landscape.
Floor-to-ceiling glass surrounds the building’s 20-ft-high entry lobby, which connects the inside and outside and brings in natural light. The building's exhibit spaces incorporate visuals and programming that connect to Maine’s culture.
COST-SAVING SUSTAINABILITY
CMTM's new location, once the site of a railcar repair yard, was designed to blend in with its natural surroundings.
The project’s building team, which included construction manager Zachau Construction, employed sustainable strategies that addressed the challenges of a brownfield site that was once a railway repair yard. The project pre-loaded the building area to compact the soil and minimize off-site removal. Low wattage LED lighting was used throughout the building, and a VRF (variable refrigeration flow) system was installed for heating and cooling. The Museum site is also close to local, regional, and international public transportation.
To help pay for this project, the estimated construction cost of which was $7 million, the Children’s Museum & Theatre surpassed its $14 million fundraising goal, having raised over $15 million from more than 500 donors and the proceeds of the sale of its former building at 142 Free Street. CMTM worked with Nextstage Design to conceptualize and align its programming with its fundraising capabilities.
“As we move past the pandemic, we are enthusiastic about all the experiences our new building and its innovative, interactive exhibits and state-of-the-art theatre will bring to fans of our previous facility, as well as new visitors to Maine from across the nation and the world,” says CMTM Executive Director Julie Butcher.
Related Stories
| Nov 10, 2010
$700 million plan to restore the National Mall
The National Mall—known as America’s front yard—is being targeted for a massive rehab and restoration that could cost as much as $700 million (it’s estimated that the Mall has $400 million in deferred maintenance alone). A few of the proposed projects: refurbishing the Grant Memorial, replacing the Capitol Reflecting Pool with a smaller pool or fountain, reconstructing the Constitution Gardens lake and constructing a multipurpose visitor center, and replacing the Sylvan Theater near the Washington Monument with a new multipurpose facility.
| Nov 9, 2010
Designing a library? Don’t focus on books
How do you design a library when print books are no longer its core business? Turn them into massive study halls. That’s what designers did at the University of Amsterdam, where they transformed the existing 27,000-sf library into a study center—without any visible books. About 2,000 students visit the facility daily and encounter workspaces instead of stacks.
| Nov 3, 2010
Park’s green education center a lesson in sustainability
The new Cantigny Outdoor Education Center, located within the 500-acre Cantigny Park in Wheaton, Ill., earned LEED Silver. Designed by DLA Architects, the 3,100-sf multipurpose center will serve patrons of the park’s golf courses, museums, and display garden, one of the largest such gardens in the Midwest.
| Nov 3, 2010
Sailing center sets course for energy efficiency, sustainability
The Milwaukee (Wis.) Community Sailing Center’s new facility on Lake Michigan counts a geothermal heating and cooling system among its sustainable features. The facility was designed for the nonprofit instructional sailing organization with energy efficiency and low operating costs in mind.
| Nov 3, 2010
New church in Connecticut will serve a growing congregation
Tocci Building Companies will start digging next June for the Black Rock Congregational Church in Fairfield, Conn. Designed by Wiles Architects, the 103,000-sf multiuse facility will feature a 900-person worship center with tiered stadium seating, a children’s worship center, a chapel, an auditorium, a gymnasium, educational space, administrative offices, commercial kitchen, and a welcome center with library and lounge.
| Nov 2, 2010
Cypress Siding Helps Nature Center Look its Part
The Trinity River Audubon Center, which sits within a 6,000-acre forest just outside Dallas, utilizes sustainable materials that help the $12.5 million nature center fit its wooded setting and put it on a path to earning LEED Gold.
| Oct 13, 2010
Editorial
The AEC industry shares a widespread obsession with the new. New is fresh. New is youthful. New is cool. But “old” or “slightly used” can be financially profitable and professionally rewarding, too.
| Oct 13, 2010
Biloxi’s convention center bigger, better after Katrina
The Mississippi Coast Coliseum and Convention Center in Biloxi is once again open for business following a renovation and expansion necessitated by Hurricane Katrina.
| Oct 13, 2010
Tower commemorates Lewis & Clark’s historic expedition
The $4.8 million Lewis and Clark Confluence Tower in Hartford, Ill., commemorates explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark at the point where their trek to the Pacific Ocean began—the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers.
| Oct 13, 2010
Residences bring students, faculty together in the Middle East
A new residence complex is in design for United Arab Emirates University in Al Ain, UAE, near Abu Dhabi. Plans for the 120-acre mixed-use development include 710 clustered townhomes and apartments for students and faculty and common areas for community activities.