PORTLAND — The $105 million hotel and arena project planned for Thompson Point in Portland will benefit from a $1.5 million grant from the Economic Development Administration.

The federal grant was announced Thursday by U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, who represents the First Congressional District, which includes Portland.

The mixed-use project the Forefront at Thompson Point was approved by the Planning Board in June and includes an arena, a 125-room hotel, restaurants and office buildings.

The project includes a 3,500- to 4,800-seat event center, a hotel, a sports medicine facility, a parking garage, a restaurant and two office buildings to be built on about 30 acres adjacent to the Portland Transportation Center, site of the Downeaster train station and the Concord Trailways bus terminal.

The event center would host the Maine Red Claws basketball team, as well as concerts and other sporting events.

Comments are no longer available on this story