What’s possible?
The Community Will Decide!
What we are hoping will come out of this process
Community Design process that engages residents of Bayside, organizations, and other interested parties that determines the future of the property.
Either renovation of the existing building or a new building that meets the community needs and reflects the vision that emerges from the community design process.
Community ownership and governance in the form of a cooperative, community land trust, or some other organizational structure.
Supporting community members and organizations to engage in development projects in the neighborhood and to engage property owners and wealth holders to consider moving more assets, property and decision-making to community control.
A documentary that follows the trajectory of the project and will help to inspire others to consider pursuing similar projects.
Funding and financing from diverse sources (individual, foundations, CDFIs, banks, city, state and federal).
Who we are
Steering Committee Members
The following are our Steering Committee members. While organizational affiliations have been listed our Steering Committee members are not officially representing their organization.
Marcia Minter: Indigo Arts
Jim Hall: Bayside Neighborhood Association
Deborah Van Hoewyk: Bayside Neighborhood Association
Crystal Cron: Presente Maine
Lauren Lindenbaum. Office of Economic Opportunity
Alice Kabore: Hope Acts
Stacy Begin: Two Fat Cats
Marpheen Chan: Khmer Maine
Justin Alfond: 72 Parris St building owner
Mufalo Chitam: Maine Immigrants Rights Coalition
Lydia Muna-Mangan
Facilitator:
Jonah Fertig-Burd: InterRooted
History of 72 Parris St
The land where 72 Parris St is today is Wabanaki land, specifically the land of the Abenaki. The building at 72 Parris St was built in 1900. The original use of the building was a junkshop, most likely doing metal sorting or recycling. It later became Forest City Gym, with a boxing manager there who had some success training champs and they welcomed people of color. After that, it became a florist warehouse, Alna Inc.
It was purchased in 2015 by Forq LLC which ran Fork Food Lab.The Sustainability Lab started running Fork Food Lab in 2018. Fork Food Lab outgrew the space and moved to a new large facility in South Portland in 2023. Instead of selling off the property or redeveloping it, Justin Alfond (owner of Forq LLC) has Initiated this community design process so the community can decide what the next chapter of 72 Parris Street will be.
Get involved
We are continuing to engage our community in bringing their voice, vision and ideas into the redevelopment of 72 Parris St. Add your contact info to get notified about our next community meeting and to receive updates. You can also get in touch with Jonah Fertig-Burd at jonahfertigburd@gmail.com or Justin Alfond at jalfond@gmail.com