When I first walked into the house on Munjoy Hill that I would buy and begin to restore 23½ years ago, one of the first charms I noticed was the view from its front windows of one of our city’s icons, the Portland Observatory.

Yesterday, I witnessed the total erasure of these views by the construction of the third floor of the building going up at 47 Monument St., a voluminous behemoth that occupies every possible square foot of the lot and grows as tall as it’s allowed, apparently. Sad day for me.

Related Headlines

Though mostly pro-development, I’m shocked by the lack of concern for local context in allowing these giant structures to be built with no concern for impact on others’ property – in other words, for the pre-existing community. I look forward to actively participating in the consideration of a Munjoy Hill Historic Preservation District and hope that the City Council will urge it on.

Christopher Akerlind

Portland

Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or to participate in the conversation. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.

filed under:
letter to the editor
Related Stories
Latest Articles