New Community Center / Town Office / Fire Station Project
Our Story
After years of planning, powering through a global pandemic and even an initial loss of federal funding, Northport’s new Community Center, Town Office & Fire Department project has launched. The current Town Office has served a long and useful life, first as a schoolhouse in the 1930s, then as the original Town Office. In the early 1990’s, the old Town Office was raised up a story, while a new first floor was added underneath it to increase space. It continued to serve in this way for 30 more years. Since then, many structural problems have developed, even as our community has continued to grow. The Fire Station was built in 2003. While the fire station building remains sound, vital and necessary upgrades will improve environmental and safety conditions and the capability of our volunteer fire and emergency crew.
Northport’s population has grown by more than 50% between 1980 and 2024 and municipal safety mandates required by the State have increased. The Town has outgrown the existing space. Space for storage, public meetings, and conducting elections is inadequate. Two-by-four construction and poor insulation make the building inefficient and uncomfortable to heat and cool. No filtration of the building’s drinking water, which has unsafe levels of arsenic, means none of it is currently potable. Without an elevator, offices on the second floor do not meet federal ADA public building accessibility requirements; the only access to the Town’s finance, code enforcement, and administrator’s offices is by stairway. In 2018, and confirmed again in 2024, engineering studies found the Town Office building to be structurally compromised. As a result, the Town’s insurance company limited insurance coverage on the building in the summer of 2024. So, addressing these limitations and risks could no longer be put off.
On Jun. 16, 2025, Northport voted 83-28 to approve all the necessary warrants to proceed with the new Community Center and Town Office project. After Congress failed to pass an initial budget that included $2.325 million in federal funding for the project, the Town reapplied for the next cycle with Sen. Collins and Sen. King’s support; Congress passed a budget that included the $2.325 million for our project on Nov. 13, 2025. On February 9, 2026, the Town received the funding and began accepting donations from taxpayers. Then, during a Special Town Meeting, the Town voted unanimously to purchase the adjacent property at 8 Beech Hill Road to serve as our temporary Town Office while we begin construction on the new space. Click here for a cost breakdown.
Northport has shown such resilience throughout the planning and implementation of the new building project. Now we need everyone in Town to stay involved by volunteering or donating to the campaign.
Explore more with these videos:
Former Select Board Chair, Shelly Patten, talks about the many uses for the new Community Center
Town Administrator, James Kossuth, talks about opportunities for residents to get involved in the project
Get Involved
Volunteer
Volunteer opportunities to contribute to the public fundraising campaign are available. From fundraising events and community-building events to bringing creative ideas to the Fundraising Committee, there is a volunteer opportunity available for you.
The Town is trying to raise as much money as possible to reduce the amount of money that the Town has to borrow to finish the project. Voters at the 2025 Town Meeting authorized a loan of up to $3.5 million. Every dollar raised now is one dollar less that the Town has to borrow and pay back, with interest. For example, your $100 donation now could save the Town $55.75 in interest payments — more than 55%! — based on a 4.8% interest rate over 20 years. To see what your $25-$1,000 donation would provide to the project, click here.
You may donate using the button below or this link, which takes you to the Town’s secure online donation platform. To save on fees, please mail or drop off a check at the Town Office. Thank you!
You may also donate by mailing or dropping off a check at the Town Office, payable to “Town of Northport,” with “Town Office Project” in the memo line. All donations to the Town are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law, and you will receive a charitable contribution receipt from the Town.
You may also donate stock to the Town or make a pledge payable over the course of several years. Please contact James Kossuth at administrator@northportmaine.org or 338-3819 x6 for details about these options.
Donor Tracker
The road to $3.5 million has begun, and your donations matter! Updated 8/14/2026
Public Donations/Fundraising Efforts
7/19/2026 Contra Dance and Raffle: $6100
8/2/2026 Best of Maine, Lobster Bake, Live Music, and Art Market: $4800
Private Donations
In The News
Find all of the media coverage our project has received here.
July 17, 2026: Northport’s own John Burgess published a column on the first Fundraising Committee Event. Find it here.
July 9, 2026: Midcoast Villager article. This article highlights Northport’s resilience and community through the nearly decade-long planning of the Community Building and Town Office Project.
January 18, 2026: Penbay Pilot published an articleabout the Town’s progress with the project. You can read the article here.
August 20, 2025: Article by Northport’s own Reeves Gilmore in the PenBay Pilot about the importance of building a strong sense of community for Northport, and the role of the new community center in that effort.
June 19, 2025: Midcoast Villager publishes this article about the plans for a new Community Center and Town Office.
Updated May 8, 2025: On April 16, an article ran in the Midcoast Villager explaining the Town’s current situation after $2.325 million in federal funding the Town had been counting on was eliminated in March.
How long has this project been in the works, and what led up to where we are now?
The project has been in the works since 2017.
2017-2022 Following the 2018 engineer’s report, the Select Board began the process of exploring options for updating the town office building. The Select Board considered three plans: (a) renovating the existing building, (b) building a new structure elsewhere on the site, and (c) building a new office that connected to the existing fire station. Because the estimated costs for each option were all very similar, and only the combined town office and fire station addressed all of the buildings’ shortcomings, the Board decided to pursue Plan C. Preliminary plans were drafted for sharing in a town meeting in early 2020. However, when COVID hit, that meeting couldn’t happen, and the project was put on hold during the pandemic.
2022-2024 The Select Board revived planning for a new building project in 2022 and reviewed all the earlier proposals.The Board also considered proceeding in phases, but ultimately rejected that approach as impractical. Preliminary plans were drafted for a new structure attached to the Fire Station with a room large enough to hold the annual Town Meeting. The Town applied for and was approved for a $2.3 million earmark from Congress, pending passage of the 2025 federal budget.
May & June, 2024 After presentation of the preliminary plans at a public hearing in May, the plans were approved by a vote of 84% at the Annual Town Meeting in June.
Fall, 2024 Working withTown officials, and with input from Town staff and Northport’s Climate Resilience Committee, 2A Architects of Rockport created final construction drawings for the proposed building. Based on construction plan details, the revised estimate for construction was $4.2 M plus another $900,000 for non-construction costs (design, permits, appliances, etc.) for a revised estimated cost total of about $5.2 million. By February the project was ready to put out to bid, pending passage of the federal budget.
March, 2025 In a setback, Congress failed to pass the federal budget that included the $2.325 million earmarked for the Northport building project. This meant that all project funding would need to come almost entirely from a taxpayer bond. The Town immediately reapplied for 2026 congressional funding in case Congress approved it with the next year’s budget.
April 30, 2025 Northport residents gathered at the Edna Drinkwater School for a Q&A session to hear updates on the project, review the plans & ask questions. Concerned that the revised cost estimate would place too high a burden on taxpayers, the Select Board decided to propose a municipal bond of no more than $3.5 million, with remaining costs to be raised from grants and a capital campaign, and/or 2026 federal funding, should it should become available.
June 16, 2025 The Annual Town Meeting provided a chance for registered Northport voters to vote to authorize a 20-year municipal bond of $3.5 million, and to allow the Select Board to seek and receive grants and donations for construction of the new building, and to proceed with construction as soon as funding is secured.
November, 2025 The federal government approved the budget that included Northport’s $2.325 building project grant.
For current progress on grants and private donations see Donor Tracker.
What will the new Town Office be like? How does the current design address the needs of the community?
The floor plan addresses Town needs that the Select Board identified throughout the design process. It will have:
Ample office space for our municipal administrative staff & town operations on one floor, fully ADA compliant.
Modern and efficient HVAC system – heat pumps for heating and cooling, with a system for heat recovery air exchange.
Fireproof vault storage for town records and a map room for storage and review of large maps.
Digital access space/reading room for the public.
Meeting room that fits up to 88 seated guests (144 standing), with an attached serving kitchen with filtered water & adequate public restrooms, to be used for Town meetings, voting, fire and emergency trainings, Select Board & committee meetings, community gatherings, and rentable space for private or other outside events.
Ability to serve as an emergency shelter during extreme weather or other disasters.
Public safety improvements including shower & laundry facilities, a break room for crew returning from emergency calls, and offices
What will this new building cost?
The estimated cost of construction work put out to bid is $4,260,805 (Jan 2025 estimate)
Additional anticipated “owner” costs are about $890,000 (moving, storage, furnishing, permitting, etc.)
Total estimated cost: approximately $5,200,000
What about utility costs in this new facility? How will they compare to the old building?
Currently, the Town Office & Fire Station use oil for heat, at a cost of about $3,500 per year (variable), plus maintenance costs on an aging boiler. Electricity is roughly $2,100 for each building, totaling about $4,200 per year. Insulation in the current building is not optimal, and windows & doors are leaky. Today’s cost to heat and cool the current building does not result in reliably comfortable conditions in winter or summer for those who work there day in and day out.
The new building is designed with efficient electric heat pumps (or “mini-splits”) in each room; these units serve dual functions as heaters and AC units. The new structure will meet the most current energy efficiency standards adopted by the State this spring. The Systems Engineer roughly estimates that the new building, more than twice the square footage of the existing one, could use as much as $25,000/year in electricity. However, with a nearly all-electric building, it would be possible to reduce electricity costs by investing in solar panels (either on the roof, or a solar farm elsewhere), conceivably to less than $100/month, depending on how many panels we invested in. We would be positioned to take advantage of significant savings over time, and to reduce dependency on fossil fuel. The only fossil fuel burned would be to heat the fire station (as it is now) — all other heating will be with heat pumps (electricity).
What are the likely funding sources and amounts?
In 2025 the Select Board proposed capping the municipal bond at $3.5 million. Because construction is not likely to start until spring of 2027, the Town is using a $7.0 million project total to account for potential increased cost due to cost of materials, inflation, and economic uncertainties. However ultimately, the amount of the bond will depend upon the success of the combined efforts of the capital campaign, grants, and federal funding. Possible funding sources and ranges are below:
How would my tax bill be affected by a bond, and for how long?
Based on an interest rate of 4.8% for a 20-year bond of $3.5 million, estimated annual payments would be $263,500.00. To balance these payments, the tax rate would increase by a little under 5%, or, about $86.00 for every $100,000 of a property’s taxable valuation.
