The city is moving forward with a plan to transform the former Mahoney Middle School into a campus that will include City Hall, the public library and a new police station. Shawn Ouellette / Portland Press Herald

South Portland is aiming to put a project that consolidates municipal departments at the Mahoney Middle School property on the November 2026 ballot.

The South Portland City Council on Tuesday authorized spending $256,000 to hire an owner’s representative for the city’s project to redevelop the former school property into a consolidated municipal campus.

The $256,000 will come through American Rescue Plan Act funds which expire at the end of the year.

Preliminary plans call for City Hall, the library and police station to be located on the property with the fire station being rebuilt at its current site on Broadway.

Colliers Engineering and Design was rated highest by city staff out of a pool of four applicants on criteria such as qualifications, experience, project understanding and proposed cost. Colliers came in with the second-lowest cost. Proposals from other firms ranged from $236,000 to $500,000.

“I wanted to feel comfortable with a firm who could demonstrate that they have done this over and over and over again,” Fire Chief Phil Selberg told the council. “The other thing that’s really important to me is they understand how complicated this is going to be and have experience with complicated projects.”

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Selberg said these were some of the reasons he chose Colliers as his top choice. The firm has experience with similar projects, such as a public safety facility in Somerville, Massachusetts; city hall campus in Fitchburg, Massachusetts; library in Amherst, Massachusetts; town hall and police station campus in Ogunquit; and a fire station in Bath.

Facilities Director Don Hopkins told the council he was impressed with Colliers’ desire and proven ability to ensure the residents are on board throughout the process.

“They were very adamant about being able to make sure everybody – they’ve done it in other towns – is aware of what’s going on pretty much every step of the way,” Hopkins said.

The owner’s representative will be responsible for assisting in the process of hiring a design team, advising on funding assistance, coordinating public information, reviewing designs, assisting in construction bids and tracking the project’s costs.

The city intends to hire a design team and form a building committee in the early months of 2025 with the goal of having a final design ready for council approval by July 2026 for a November 2026 citywide vote.

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