ROCKLAND, Maine — The local planning board got its first look this week at a proposed five-story downtown building that would feature retail stores at street level and storage for high-end artwork on the upper levels.
The complex, to be called the Starfire Building, is to be built at 12 Winter St. in what is now a parking lot owned by Winter Street LLC in the rear of the Dowling Walsh Gallery on Main Street.
Gallery owner Jacob Dowling, who is behind the proposal, said last month this was something he had been considering for the past five years.
On Tuesday night, A + R Architecture presented the board and public the first peek at what the complex will look like.
The modern looking facility features a lot of reflective glass and would have a footprint of about 90-by-110 feet.
Dowling said last month that what he has determined from his clientele is there is a need for a business to manage people’s art collections, including storage, management, transportation and installation of artwork.
The planning board is expected to formally review the proposal at its August meeting.
Construction is expected to begin next spring and be completed in the spring of 2017.
This project is the latest art-related development in downtown Rockland. The Center for Maine Contemporary Art building, also located on Winter Street, is expected to open in the spring of 2016. That $2.5 million project will result in an 8,600-square-foot art center with a 2,200-square-foot, glass-enclosed courtyard.
In addition, the William A. Farnsworth Library and Art Museum is in the midst of a multimillion-dollar renovation project for its downtown Rockland campus and the historic Olson House in Cushing.