Thompson’s Point overhaul takes shape after museum, web developer join project

The talented Dylan Martin of the trade publication Mainebiz reported this morning that Portland app and Web developer Big Room Studios will be the first office tenant at the much ballyhooed Thompson’s Point development, a long-anticipated overhaul of one of Portland’s most visible properties.

With the announcement, the picture of what the peninsula will look like is becoming a bit clearer. We’ve known basically since the project was first proposed a number of years ago that the professional basketball team the Maine Red Claws — and an associated home sports venue — would be part of the $100-plus million redevelopment.

Chairs are set up in the Circus Conservatory of America's new training facility on Thompson's Point in Portland in January.

Chairs are set up in the Circus Conservatory of America’s new training facility on Thompson’s Point in Portland in January.

Then, two years ago, the country’s first circus college, the Circus Conservatory of America, announced it would call Thompson’s Point home (and it has established a presence there since). And while we’ve known for a long time that an outdoor performance space would likely be part of the equation, that assumption took on new life last fall when The State Theatre announced it would book a series of concerts there starting this summer.

Communal workshop The Open Bench Project is another tenant of the development, and Martin reported that Lincolnville-based Cellardoor Winery is in talks to open a tasting room and retail space at the site.

Foodies will also be pleased to see a new clam shack opened there by the proprietors of the popular Nosh Kitchen Bar, a favorite Congress Street restaurant once featured on the Travel Channel show “Man vs. Food.”

Loren Coleman examines a Bigfoot sculpture at his museum in Portland. (BDN photo by Emily Burnham)

Loren Coleman examines a Bigfoot sculpture at his museum in Portland. (BDN photo by Emily Burnham)

But in what’s already a diverse crowd of tenants, one of the most interesting will be the International Cryptozoology Museum, founded by world renowned paranormal researcher Loren Coleman, who has kept his collection of mysterious artifacts in a smaller place off Congress Street for years.

The expanded space on Thompson’s Point will allow the museum to become a research room of sorts for the ever-growing population of Bigfoot and monster enthusiasts.

“We will soon receive a donation of a more 40,000 volumes of materials that will establish our own cryptozoology library,” said Coleman in a recent statement. “The move to ‘The Point’ will give us the space we need for a reading room where visitors can come to do their own research and learn more about our field of study.”

Big Room Studios, currently based in the Old Port, will bring 17 employees to a 3,000-square-foot space in the project’s renovated 36,000-square-foot Brick North building as early as September, Martin reported.

(The museum, Cellardoor Winery and clam shack are likely to be spring 2016 additions, Martin wrote.)

“Relocating to Thompson’s Point is the kind of forward-looking action that typifies our willingness to do as Wayne Gretzky recommends and ‘skate to where the puck is going to be,'” Sam Mateosian, Big Room co-founder, told Mainebiz in a statement. “We believe in bold steps and are always willing to take bets on young technology, projects and people who show exceptional promise. To that end, we are excited to be in on the ground floor of one of the most creative and novel developments in Portland’s history.”

In addition to all the people, the site will be home to the world’s only grove of Trees of 40 Fruit, a colorful living art and agricultural project displaying trees that will actually grow dozens of different fruits, such as peaches, plums, apricots and nectarines.

Chris Thompson’s development team is pulling in a strong mix of tenants to the 30-plus-acre campus. He’ll have employers and day-to-day workers, as well as tourist attractions and nightlife events.

The city maintains plans to use the property as a regional transportation hub as well, with the Amtrak and bus station already nearby.

The viability of any large development project would seem to hang on its ability to draw a wide range of people and ventures, so that no single business failure or bad trend would sink it. And with the latest announcements, it seems Thompson’s Point is accomplishing that.

The lights of Thompson’s Point will be the first thing northbound drivers on Interstate 295 see as they approach Portland for years to come.

Seth Koenig

About Seth Koenig

Seth has nearly a decade of professional journalism experience and writes about the greater Portland region.