Monument Part#2

The same subject from yesterday's photo, in a different light.

Happy early February!

Soldiers and Sailors

Putting the 'monument' in Portland's Monument Square. From portlandmaine.com....

"Sculpted by Franklin Simmons, dedicated in 1891 to Portland's soldiers & sailors who served in the Civil War."

Here's a photo from 1902 (that I didn't take, as it was 84 years before I was born!) showing the area which has changed a lot over the last century....




For more historial photographs of the area, I highly recommend the Maine Memory Network, an offering by the Maine Historial Society. I look forward to posting some 'before and after' shots soon!

Night

The view from the top of the University of Southern Maine parking garage on the Portland campus. I-295 is the highway in the foreground.

The Sign Says...

City by the Bay

The new Intermed (a local healthcare company) building rises in the Bayside Neighborhood, with the Whole Foods marketplace in the foreground. A brief introduction to Bayside....

"This is one of the oldest neighborhoods on the peninsula dating back to the early 1800's. It grew along with the expansion of the railroad into Portland and later became an industrial location which is why it now is considered a prime area for "brownfields" redevelopment. At one time Bayside housed mostly blue collar workers who walked to work at the areas factories. From the 1950's to date most of the housing and factories have been destroyed in Bayside and much of this property is now used as parking lots by the city's workforce. "

The Intermed building sits across the way from the somewhat recently built 5-story AAA (American Automobile Association) Northern New England headquarters and more recently completed 4-story Gorham Savings Bank building. Next to the Intermed building, construction is also well underway on the Bayside Student Housing complex. All very nice developments!

By Design

Coffee By Design is a Portland based coffee shop and micro-roastery, operating 3 cafes within the city. They are a valuable supporter of local arts and community events and serve a great cup of joe. Pictured is their India Street shop. If you can't make it there in person, they ship their specialty coffee too.

Line the sky

A little evening skyline action, click to enlarge a bit. Thanks for all the comments this week!

Longfellow

The Henry Wadsworth Longfellow statue sits at the approraitly named Longfellow Square in Portland.

Shipyard

This picture doesn't say much, but I can say that the Shipyard sign is for Shipyard Brewing Co. Portland is home to a handful of microbreweries and pubs. I don't have any data off the top of my head, but based on the size of their property and shelf space at local grocery stores, I think Shipyard is the biggest brewing company in Maine. The steeple in the background is of the " Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception," which is the tallest building (from ground to the top of the steeple, not in occupied space) in the state, built in 1869.

Sun

Typical view from the Western Promenade late in the evening. If you look closely, you can kind of make out one of the runways belonging to the Portland International Jetport. (PWM)

Panoramic

A quick and sloppy panoramic from the SMCC campus in South Portland. Feel free to click it for a large view!

Here come old flat-top

Is $7 a good deal for a flat top? I'm not sure how long ago this place went out of business, but I always though it was a neat sign.

Thanks to everyone who has left comments, I plan on checking out more www.dailyphotoblog.com sites soon!

Double Shot

One for Yesterday....

As spotted outside the Starbucks branch on Exchange Street.

And one for Today...

From the West End, on Gray St. to be exact. Almost has a European flair to it I think.

Down by the Seaside

A portion of the peninsula as seen from South Portland on a chilly day.

A visual reference for those new to the area, courtesy of Google maps...

Tip: Most of the images posted have been greatly reduced in size. A larger version of each image is available by clicking on the posted image. The images saved on my computer are usually even larger, and I am happy to fulfill any requests for custom sizing.

Renewal? No

Portland's verison of 'urban renewal,' on a cold and dark winter day. This was created with the vision of improving traffic flow at a time when cars were more important to a city street than people or public transit. Please follow this link to some great reading about the topic and before and after pictures and new designs. There is some on going talk about how to fix this monstrosity and I personally can't wait to see some progress. It might not look to bad in this picture, (no traffic for some reason) but in the middle of the two one-way road sections lies a no-mans land of unused land that slopes below street level. It might look like a peaceful scenic park but it is not at all. Franklin Towers is also in the top left, Portland's other eyesore and the tallest building in the state of Maine, unfortunately.

State of the Art

Why buy new when you can buy used and save money? Bravo to the company that is holding onto this beast. It might not get great gas mileage, but maybe the fact that it has been utilized for so long balances that out? Either way it is getting some work done at the construction of the Ocean Gateway and Riverwalk projects on the Eastern Waterfront.

Snow again

After a lot of melting, we have snow once more. 5-10 inches is the projected total for the area. Better now than in April!

Down India

Taken today, looking down India Street from Congress Street. An oil tanker sits in the distance, unloading it's (presumably) millions of dollars worth of cargo. Portland is the closest major American port to Europe.

Lincoln Park Bench

Taken a few weeks ago in Lincoln Park, which sits between Congress Street, the Cumberland County courthouse, Franklin Arterial, and Peal Street. Photomatix was used for the tone-mapping.

Hockey

The Portland Pirates, AHL affiliate of the Anaheim Ducks, have been having a surprisingly goood season so far, tied for second place in their conference. Hockey is a good enterainment option during the cold and generally quiet winter time. http://www.portlandpirates.com/

Last Summer

No, it's not summer yet, but the slightly warmer (50's!) temperatues made my dig through my archives and dig up this photo I took last summer. Taken at Spring Point in South Portland, with Bug Light in the foreground and Eastern Promenade in the distance. I plan on posting pictures taken with a few days of the post date, but will toss in a few pictures from the archives every now and then for variety.

Color

A few colorful houses sit on the eastern side of Cumberland avenue at the bottom of Munjoy Hill.

Throback

As spotted in the stairwell of the parking garage located on Newbury St.

Wreath

A wreath that continues to adorn a house on Cumberland Avenue. Many tress have been spotted on the sides of roads recently, as the city offers curbside pick-up of Christmas trees for a short amount of time.

Crane

A crane rises from construction at Maine Medical Center's main campus on the Western Promenade. University of Southern Maine law library rises in the background.

Pardon the image quality, this was taken while driving to work in the near sub-zero temperatures we've been having as of late. This is the new housing project "Pearl Place," designed for lower income renters. It is located at Pearl and Oxford Streets in Bayside. I'm not a huge fan of the design (it will take some time to get used to something that isn't mostly brick), but it's a great step for the neighborhood which is on it's way to being a much more 'happening' area to both live and work.

According to local news reports, a lot of communities in Southern Maine, including Portland, are nearing their pre-set budgets for snow removal this winter. It has certainly been the snowiest winter I recall and we've got a few more months to go!

Winter Construction

Work continues on the new parking garage by the Ocean Gateway project. A few mixed use developments of similar height will start rising sometime this year if all goes according to plan.

Happy 2008!

What better day to start posting on this here blog? (This is a rhetorical question!)

As shown by today's image, it's been a snow day. According to the Associated Press, "....Portland, Maine, amassed 37.7 inches for its third-snowiest December on record." Looks like January may be more of the same.