Contributed by Maine Historical Society
- Item 105410
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Description
In the early 1970s, Maine Medical Center undertook the construction of a new, multi-story parking garage at the intersection of Congress and Gilman Streets. Building crews spent a year creating the infrastructure to support the new construction, installing pipe and conduits, building roads, even changing the topography of the site. A portion of Bramhall Hill was cut away in order to level a lot on which to erect the new parking garage. The earthmoving created a six-story cliff overlooking Congress Street. MMC’s facilities engineers designed a 200-foot-long, 65-foot-high retaining wall as part of an earth retention system. By 1973, the garage was nearly complete and can be seen in this photo lit at night.
Before the 1960s, there were no parking garages at the hospital and the plateau behind the complex was used for parking. As the hospital expanded, parking in the neighborhood grew increasingly scarce, so the Bramhall Reservoir was leased and then purchased to alleviate parking issues. For Maine Medical Center employees, there was a parking lot on St. John Street. This stood where the old Union Station was located prior to its demolition as part of the national Urban Renewal Project.
In 2007, a helipad was added to the top of the garage to air-lift patients to the hospital, including Army National Guard helicopters. Prior to the installation of the helipad, patients were air transported to the jetport and then moved by ambulance to the hospital, causing a delay in reaching the ER.
About This Item
- Title: Maine Medical Center parking garage at night, Portland, 1973
- Creator: Maine Medical Center
- Creation Date: 1983
- Subject Date: 1983
- Location: West End, Portland, Cumberland County, ME
- Media: photographic print
- Dimensions: 20.3 cm x 25.4 cm
- Local Code: Coll. 4221, Box 111, Folder 7
- Collection: Maine Medical Center collection
- Object Type: Image
Cross Reference Searches
Standardized Subject Headings
- Hospital buildings--Design and construction
- Hospital parking facilities
- Hospitals--Maine--Portland
- Maine Medical Center (Portland, Me.)
- Parking garages--Design and construction
- Night
For more information about this item, contact:
Maine Historical Society485 Congress Street, Portland, ME 04101
(207) 774-1822 x230
Website
This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. No Permission is required to use the low-resolution watermarked image for educational use, or as allowed by the applicable copyright. For all other uses, permission is required.
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