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Updated: April 18, 2025

After winning appeal, Portland Museum of Art to move forward with planned expansion

An exterior view of a small building next to a larger building. FILE PHOTO / PETER VAN ALLEN At left is 142 Free St., which would be torn down under an expansion proposal by the Portland Museum of Art, at right.
By Laurie Schreiber

The Portland Museum of Art said it would resume its campus expansion at 142 Free St. in the Arts District, having won out against opponents of the plan.

The statement on Thursday followed Greater Portland Landmarks’s announcement that it would not pursue further legal action opposing the plan, which includes tearing down an existing building and constructing a 60,000-square-foot wing as part of the museum’s $100 million expansion.

Greater Portland Landmarks had sued the city of Portland, seeking to overturn a decision by city councilors to remove the historical classification of the building at 142 Free St. The group argued that the building, constructed in 1830 but later renovated and modified, should remain a contributing structure under the city's historic preservation ordinance.

The museum had requested that the building be reclassified as a "noncontributing structure" in the Congress Street Historic District — a necessary change if the museum were to raze the property and move forward with the expansion.

In March, state Superior Court Justice Deborah Cashman ruled in favor of the museum.

The Superior Court’s recent decision affirmed the designation change and an end to Greater Portland Landmarks’s legal appeal filed against the city.

A rendering shows the exterior of a building with cutouts.
COURTESY / LEVER ARCHITECTURE
A rendering shows the proposed new building at 142 Free St., at left in image, where the Portland Museum of Art plans to expand.

“After welcoming nearly 10,000 visitors over five days for the Art in Bloom program, it’s clear that the community is eager for more opportunities to engage with art,” said Erik Hayward, president of the PMA board. 

In a separate statement, Greater Portland Landmarks remained “strongly opposed” the reclassification but would not pursue further legal action.

“While we disagree with the judge’s recent ruling against our appeal and are deeply disappointed by the outcome of this case, we must move forward in the best way possible for Portland and our community,” the group said.

The group said it would instead “leverage this moment through outreach, education, programming and collaboration to build and demonstrate broad public support for historic preservation for Portland’s future.”

The museum has owned 142 Free St. since 2019. It has been vacant since the Children’s Museum moved into a new building at Thomson’s Point in 2021.

In 2023, the  museum selected LEVER Architecture, based in Los Angeles and Portland, Ore., to lead the expansion, with a new building at 142 Free St. made from mass timber, terracotta and glass; and a curved roofline designed to frame the sun as it rises and sets, in honor of Maine’s Wabanaki communities and the land they call Wabanakik, or Dawnland.

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