The Maine Home and Garden Show this weekend will be for the first time at the sports dome at YourSpace Sports and Recreation Complex, 215 Narragansett St. (Route 202), near an intersection with the bypass in Gorham.

Adam Sturtevant, president of the executive board at the nonprofit YourSpace, is enthusiastic and hopes the dome will become a home for the show. “We hope it’s long-term,” Sturtevant said Monday.

The three-day 2009 Maine Home and Garden Show features a blend of gardening and home improvement exhibits including wood pellets and stoves. It’s a spring opportunity for those attending to discuss their plans for redecorating, building, buying, and landscaping with local businesses.

Featuring a “Go Green Expo,” the show has more than 100 exhibits. “We have a beautiful show,” said Dave Niederstadt of Downeast Show Promotions of Westport Island.

The show runs from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, March 27; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday, March 28, and 10 a.m. to 1p.m., Sunday, March 29. Admission is $7 (free for age 16 and under) but Niederstadt said a $2 discount coupon is available on the show’s Web site, downeastshowpromotions.com.

Parking in YourSpace’s 112 spaces is free. Overflow parking will be at Gorham High School, 41 Morrill Ave., which is also accessed from Narragansett Street by Access Road. A shuttle service will run from the school to the YourSpace dome. Niederstadt said an additional 50 parking spaces would be available at Moody’s Collision Center, 200 Narragansett St.

Sandra Warren, general manager at YourSpace, said concession stands will sell hot dogs, pizza, chili and meatball sandwiches along with a variety of snacks.

Even if there’s an early spring chill outside, the dome promises to be comfortable. “It’s fully heated,” Warren said.

Gorham businesses with booths include Phinney Lumber, O’Donal’s Nursery and Wescott & Sons. Warren said businesses were to begin setting up displays Wednesday.

Sturtevant said, “It’s a show that builds a sense of community.”

Niederstadt said box stores are not allowed in the show, as he advocates supporting local Maine businesses. “It’ll help keep money in Maine,” Niederstadt said.

The Easter bunny will appear at the show on Saturday and Sunday.

Niederstadt on Monday said he expects an attendance of about 5,500 for the three days, equaling the turnout last year. He expects a crowd of 3,000 on Saturday.

In the past two years, the show was held in the field house on the Gorham campus of the University of Southern Maine. But the event moved because Niederstadt said the university decided the situation wasn’t workable.

“I feel they made a mistake,” Niederstadt said.

The show hasn’t run continuously over the years because of the lack of a large, available space. Niederstadt said YourSpace, which has more than an acre under the dome, has more available space than the Cumberland County Civic Center and the Portland Exposition Building combined.

The Maine Home and Garden Show began in Brunswick in 1994. In 1997, when it was in Topsham, it attracted a record 11,800 people. It was held at the University of Southern Maine in 1999.

The dome and Niederstadt have had a working relationship. Niederstadt has stored large tarps at the dome, which has used them to protect outside fields from the weather.

The nonprofit group Southern Maine Community Recreation Center acquired YourSpace, a former sports center, with a bid of more than $1 million in a foreclosure auction in Feb. 2008.

While YourSpace is focused on sports, it has held other large events in its first year, including a car show last spring. “We’re excited to have them here,” Warren said about the Maine Home and Garden Show.

Sturtevant said the show is also an opportunity to showcase the sports dome. “It may bring folks to YourSpace who haven’t seen it before,” he said.

(locator map)(flowers being watered)