Scarborough, ME The vision for a downtown for Scarborough got a little clearer with the submission of the Ad Hoc Downtown Committee’s report to the town council in late October.  The report is the culmination of nine months of work by a citizen committee appointed by the council.

The committee worked with the Town and Crossroads Holdings, LLC, the developer of The Downs, a mixed-use project of more than 500 acres in the center of town. Crossroads Holdings engaged Goody Clancy, a Boston-based architecture, preservation and planning firm, to develop a concept plan for the central portion of the project.

The concept plan put to paper the idea of a downtown style area with a village green surrounded by shops, services, offices, public uses and residential. The concept plan also incorporated reuse of the iconic Scarborough Downs grandstand. While a feasibility study will need to be completed on the grandstand, the Committee’s hope is that the structure can be incorporated into the final vision of the Downtown.

The next step in the process is for The Downs to refine this concept into a formal masterplan for review by the Planning Board.

The work on the Downtown portion of The Downs project is happening a bit sooner than originally projected.  The change in schedule was made possible by the success of the Innovation District (light manufacturing and production space) within The Downs, which is now completely sold out of lots.

For more information on the Downtown concept plan, go to https://www.scarboroughmaine.org/government/boards-and-committees/ad-hoc-downtown-development-committee/.