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Updated: 8 hours ago

Dirigo Architectural Engineering pursues public works projects

By Laurie Schreiber

Dirigo Architectural Engineering in Scarborough has two public works projects in the pipeline.

In Rockland, it’s the designer of record for a new public safety building that will be a combined fire, police, emergency medical services and dispatch facility, constructed on the site of the current fire station.

In Dixfield, Dirigo is the designer for the addition to the town’s fire station, to incorporate a new training and community room, offices, dispatch and decontamination areas.

The costs of both projects are to be determined.

The Rockland project marks Dirigo’s sixth public safety project. The city awarded the bid in late January, according to a news release.

The current scope for Dirigo includes a feasibility study, initial design and cost estimate for the city of Rockland. Once that information is known, the bond will go to voters in November. If approved, construction  would start in the spring of 2026. 

Dirigo’s other public safety projects underway and/or completed a $21.5 million public safety building in Scarborough, an $800,000 addition to the Readfield Fire Station and creation of conceptual plans and estimates for a new training facility serving the needs of several fire departments in Portland.

Costco project

In 2023, Dirigo completed its largest project to date — delivery of Maine’s first Costco (Nasdaq: COST), a 161,000-square-foot facility within the growing Downs mixed-use development in Scarborough.

“When Costco announced it was coming to Scarborough, DirigoAE was hired by the big-box retailer, and they delivered on-time and on budget in a complex set of requirements,” said Richard Michaud, a partner in M&R Holdings, the development company behind the Downs, a 577-acre master-planned development where the Costco was built.

Founded in 2009, Dirigo offers architectural, design and project management services. The firm was initially launched in Turner. Over the years, its clients have included Flagship Cinemas, the University of Maine, Tyler Technologies and dozens of municipalities, universities and hospitals from Fort Kent to Princeton, N.J. 

Repeat clients form 86% of the firm’s work, according to a news release.

Dirigo was previously retained for three projects for Tyler Technologies, a provider of public sector software with 56 offices and 7,300 employees. That included Tyler’s $30 million, 100,000-square-foot expansion in Yarmouth, a 25,000-square-foot location in Orono and another in New York.

In 2010, as the movie industry shifted away from stadium seating in favor of recliner chairs, Flagship Cinemas hired Dirigo to design and renovate its five Maine-based locations. 

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