Forest Gardens bar, a longtime neighborhood gathering place on Forest Avenue, will live to fight another day.

Voting before a packed City Council chambers, the Historic Preservation Board gave its unanimous approval to study whether the Forest Gardens building, as well as two others, should be designated as local landmarks, potentially sparing them from the wrecking ball.

Bar patrons who demonstrated at City Hall before the meeting and testified during an hour and half hearing broke out into applause after the board’s decision.

“I’m not going to count my chickens before they hatch, but it’s a great step in the right direction,” said David Read, who organized patrons through a Facebook page that as of Wednesday had 715 followers. “The support tonight blew me away.”

Historic Preservation Manager Deb Andrews said that two board members would need to submit a written request to begin the formal nomination process, which would consist of an in-depth study and a recommendation to the City Council.

Board members took the action because the buildings are the site of what is known as Portland’s auto row, which was home to the city’s first automobile dealers. While two of the buildings still resemble auto showrooms, the Forest Gardens building also was deemed eligible, more for its social and cultural significance than its architecture.

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“The cultural memory of what’s retained there is what I want to come back to,” board member John Turk said.

The vote comes after a developer proposed razing five buildings on Forest Avenue to make way for a new CVS. Such requests are reviewed by several city departments, including the historic preservation, which recommended considering designating three buildings as local landmarks.

The three buildings all have tenants: 351-355 Forest Ave. houses Palmer Spring Co.; 369 Forest Ave. has Creative Trails, a nonprofit that serves adults with developmental disabilities; and 371-373 Forest Ave. has Forest Gardens and David Munster’s TV Repair.

After first being reported on Jan. 12, the proposed demolition has drawn widespread opposition, by smart growth activists, local business advocates, historic preservationists and longtime residents. That outcry has prompted the council to launch a separate effort to rezone the land to prohibit a suburban style store, with a large parking lot fronting Forest Avenue, from being built there.

Attorneys representing the developer, CVS and the property owners argued that the buildings didn’t meet the criteria, primarily because they were in poor shape. They invited expert testimony from a structural engineer and an environmental scientist, who pointed to lead paint, asbestos and other contaminants.

“It’s difficult to grasp what is being preserved,” said Mary Costigan, who represented the owners of Palmer Spring Co. “This is not a John Calvin Stevens or a Cathedral of the Immaculate conception.”

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However, Andrews said cultural and social significance is a “relevant consideration” for the board and that’s where more than a dozen supporters focused their comments during the hearing.

Protesters Rick Fortino of Westbrook, left, and Steve Defilipp of Portland gather at a rally for the preservation of Forest Gardens at City Hall in Portland Wednesday.

Protesters Rick Fortino of Westbrook, left, and Steve Defilipp of Portland gather at a rally for the preservation of Forest Gardens at City Hall in Portland Wednesday. Whitney Hayward/Staff Photographer

Several people mentioned that the bar was a popular gathering spot on Thanksgiving, especially before the Portland-Deering high school football game. People also gather and support each other in good times and bad, they said.

Gary Libby, 69, said he’s been going to Forest Gardens for at least 50 years.

“Neighborhoods lose their character when they lose these kinds of institutions,” Libby said. “Forest Gardens has been a community for 80 years. I love that building.”

Tim Wooten described delivering papers to the businesses eyed for demolition as a young boy. The owner used to invite him to sit at the bar and drink an orange soda. Then, there was Nov. 22, 1963, the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

“This group of tough old folks (who served in World War II) were not drinking beer,” Wooten said. “They weren’t drinking at all. They were crying. They were comforting each other.”

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Before the hearing, more than dozen supporters – both young and old – gathered amid a biting wind in front of City Hall, some holding “Save Forest Gardens.”

Among them was John Rustin. In 2012, Rustin invited Kevin Williams, a postal worker and Forest Gardens regular, to the pub to ask for his daughter Kaitlin’s, hand in marriage. The father said yes, and so did his daughter.

“It’s a beautiful place,” said Rustin, 33. “It’s like Cheers, only better, because Rick (Piacentini, the owner and bartender) is there.”

The article was updated at 9:39 a.m. on Thursday, February 4, 2016 to correct the spelling of the name of David Read.

Forest Gardens has been a neighborhood bar on the first floor of 371 Forest Ave. for about 80 years. Joel Page/Staff Photographer

Forest Gardens has been a neighborhood bar on the first floor of 371 Forest Ave. for about 80 years.
Joel Page/Staff Photographer


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