March 29, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Panel recommends firm> Dallas company gets nod for Bangor baseball stadium plan

BANGOR — The Dallas firm of Coopers and Lybrand received the recommendation Wednesday for conducting a feasibility and marketing study on a multipurpose baseball stadium in Bangor.

Councilors on the community and economic development committee voted to send the company’s name to the full council for approval on Monday, and also to recommend the council accept a $20,000 contribution from the Bangor Blue Ox baseball team toward the $40,250 cost of the study.

Five companies submitted proposals to the city a week ago. Department director Rodney McKay told the committee that Coopers and Lybrand, KPMG Peat Marwick of Florida and Deloitte and Touche of New Jersey all were large accounting firms that specialized in sports and convention centers.

Another bidder, Convention, Sports and Leisure, included former employees from one of the large firms, McKay said, and the fifth bidder was the Atlanta company of Finne and Associates, a smaller firm that is working on a study for a convention center in Hancock County.

The three larger firms and CSL all submitted the same kind of propsals and would do the same kind of work, McKay said.

Staff recommended Coopers and Lybrand because they submitted the lowest bid and would do the study the quickest — in seven weeks. Coopers and Lybrand has done 270 consulting assignments in sports and leisure during the past 20 years, working for both minor and major league sports teams.

Also on Wednesday, the committee heard a presentation on design work for the proposed Maine School for the Arts from Portland architect Winton Scott.

Scott explained to the councilors how the front two-thirds of the Freese’s building exterior would be redone with a new roof, new windows and a terrace area on the Water Street side of the structure.

To meet the requirement of having a “light well,” the building would have an atrium running through several floors to the roof. The open area, Scott said, could be “a place for students to express themselves … something that resonates in terms of a school. It could be the heart and soul of the building in an architectural way.”

The cost of the first phase, $3.5 million, would cover that work as well as renovating retail space on the first floor and rebuilding the second floor for the Northern Conservatory of Music and some academic classrooms.

Scott is working on plans for the second phase, which school founder Daryl Rhodes said probably would cost $8.6 million. That phase would cover construction on other floors, equipment and having personnel in place for the Maine School for the Arts.

“There is a way to fund this,” Rhodes said, adding he was eager to meet with councilors to present information on the business and marketing plan, as well as fund raising.

City Manager Edward Barrett said that discussion probably could take place at the next community and economic development meeting.

City staffers are happy with the plans they have seen for the building, McKay said.

“I think this looks very encouraging,” added committee Chairman James Tyler. “It’s well thought-out in terms of phasing.”

In other business, the committee voted to accept a $300,000 loan from the Maine State Housing Authority to help the Bangor Housing Development Corp. renovate 100 units of apartment housing it is buying from the University of Maine.

The rehab work will not cost the city any tax dollars because it is merely accepting the money and passing the loan on to the nonprofit agency.

Also approved on Wednesday were:

A community development residential renovation loan for a two-family home at 12 North Park St.

A community development residential renovation loan for a single-family home at 20 Woodbury St.

A schedule of reduced docking fees at the city docks to encourage boaters to use the facilities. If approved by the City Council, owners of 20-foot boats would pay $325 for the prime season, down from $660; $650 for a full season, down from $980. These boats also could choose a weekly rate of $25.

Thirty-foot boats would pay $655 for the prime season, down from $990; $1,140 for a full season, down from $1,470. Forty-foot boats would pay fees of $985 and $1,630, down from $1,320 and $1,960.


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