Staff Writer 

Just south of the Casco Bay Bridge, near South Portland’s Mill Creek neighborhood, Cape Elizabeth resident Eric Matheson fell in love – with brick and mortar.

“I could talk about that building all day, it’s beautiful,” he said of the nearly 25,000 square-foot armory building on Broadway. “It’s always been in my eye ever since I moved here.”

Since October, Matheson has consulted with city officials about the possibility of combining his passion for the armory with his work. A member of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (I.A.T.S.E.) New England Studio Mechanics Union, he has been building movie sets since 1969. 

By this time next year, he’s hoping he can stop commuting to sound stages in Massachusetts and work closer to home. He and other movie production professionals agree the vacant armory could be successful as the state’s first sound stage. 

 “In this economic recession, the one industry that’s making a profit is the film industry. It’s the one artistic industry that can be self-sustaining,” said Memphis Hough, CEO for Vacationland Picture. “The question you have to ask isn’t ‘How do we get the film industry to come to Maine?’ it’s ‘Do you want a piece of it?’ This is a good start.”

To accommodate Matheson’s vision, South Portland Planning and Development Director Tex Haeuser has proposed rezoning the armory property and a parcel of land owned by Central Maine Power abutting it. The new contract zone would allow the space to be used as a movie production sound stage and has provisions for residential uses, should the armory building cease to exist in the future. The new zone would not allow retail stores, keeping with goals of the Comprehensive Plan for the area, but could be converted into a museum if the sound stage fails.

“The idea is this is such a unique property it deserves a special zone,” Haeuser said.

Last week, residents and members of the planning board got a sneak peek at the new zoning ordinance. While most were in favor of the sound stage concept, concerns revolved around pedestrian access to the building and adequate parking. 

Planning Board Member Caroline Hendry said she is confident the Mill Creek area would benefit from an influx of movie production employees, but wonders if they would be likely to risk crossing the intersection of Broadway and Waterman Drive on foot. Assistant City Manager Erik Carson and Haeuser said the city is currently working with the Maine Department of Transportation to improve the “horrible intersection,” and said new zoning would limit traffic to the building to two cars a minute.

“Well, can’t [Matheson] just build us a skywalk?” Hendry asked. “That’s what we really want.”

Resident Dennis Gilbert, whose property abuts CMP land beside the armory building, said he was concerned about using the CMP land for parking, as had formerly been proposed in plans to use the building as a museum. 

With an average of 40 people working in the building at once, Matheson said he is confident the armory property has enough space to accommodate employee vehicles and delivery trucks without using the CMP land. 

“There’s more than enough space,” he said of the existing parking.

On Monday, the city council weighed in on the sound stage idea for the first time. The concept was so intriguing to Councilor Linda Boudreau, she said she would favor the rezoning of the property even though it goes against her formerly firm stance on the neighborhood.

“My position has always been no retail, no commercial on the other side of Broadway,” she said. “But this isn’t going to bring the traffic that we think of when we think commercial. It’s the perfect activity to go into the armory. It’s a once in a lifetime deal and we need to make sure it happens.”

Matheson said he was feeling “quite positive” about the zone change moving closer to planning board and council approval despite some council concerns about the language of the ordinance. He said some councilors suggested making the ordinance more specific to the sound stage project by eliminating high-density residential uses. Boudreau said she could envision the property as residential should the armory cease to exist, but removing the use would not sway her support for the sound stage concept. 

“I think there is going to be one building there,” she said. “I think folks are concerned about the density [of the residential use] but I don’t see why there’s so much concern over it.”

On Monday, Haeuser recognized the proposal as an initial draft that would most likely change several times as requested by the public and city officials before being presented to the planning board or the council.

“We are going to have at least two more meetings with the public, and I’m all for it,” Matheson said. “We’re settling a lot of fears about this project.”

   Staff Writer Nate Jones may be reached at 282-4337 ext. 233.