Historic preservationists and the developer of the Portland Co. site are at a standoff regarding the structural integrity and historic significance of one of 16 buildings in the former locomotive factory complex on the city’s waterfront.

The Portland Planning Board postponed a public hearing and vote Tuesday on the historic designation of the site at the request of the developer, CPB2, which wants to conduct an additional analysis of the feasibility of reusing the building.

The former erecting shop, built in 1918 and known as Building 1, is one of eight buildings classified as contributing to a local historic district proposed by the city’s Historic Preservation Board.

But it doesn’t fit with the developer’s vision for a plaza that extends from Fore Street to the Fore River.

Jim Brady, a member of the development team, said there are other buildings on the site that also have structural problems, but the company wants to refurbish them to maintain the site’s historic core.

Building 1, he said, is not one of them.

The Historic Preservation Board has recommended designating a local historic district that would encompass just under half of the 10-acre site at 58 Fore St., purchased by CPB2 in 2013.

The Planning Board was scheduled to vote Tuesday on a recommendation to the City Council about whether to make that designation.

Brady said the Planning Board provided new information about Building 1 that led CPB2 to ask for additional time to conduct its own study. Historic preservation officials, however, said there was no new information, only further explanations given in response to earlier questions from the board.

At the packed meeting, the board voted 5-1, with Bill Hall opposed and Stuart O’Brien absent, to table the hearing and vote until Oct. 27.

The developer will have to go back to the Historic Preservation Board with its new report on Building 1 before returning to the Planning Board.

The Portland Co. began operating at the Fore Street site in 1847 and ceased operations in 1982.

In June, the City Council approved new zoning for redevelopment of the site that allows residential buildings, offices and a marketplace often described by the developer as similar to Boston’s Faneuil Hall.

Two weeks ago, the developer unveiled conceptual drawings of part of the site, which included buildings with original brick facades and a waterfront plaza where Building 1 now sits.

Brady said the company has not revealed plans for the rest of the property because they depend on the historic preservation requirements and the results of a November referendum that could limit building heights.

Question 2 on the city’s Nov. 3 ballot will ask voters if they want to enact an ordinance that effectively would restrict building heights on the property to protect views from Fore Street and Munjoy Hill.

Leslie Bridgers can be contacted at 791-6364 or at:

lbridgers@pressherald.com

Twitter: lesliebridgers