APRIL 2021.VOL. 21, NO. 04. PORTLAND, MAINE.
PORTLAND’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER. FREE!
Metro Proposes to Replace Route 8 New Circulator Goes Around West End By Tony Zeli
The Greater Portland Metro is updating its bus routes and proposing a new bi-directional circulator route for the Portland peninsula. The goal is faster service and greater frequency, but the new route eliminates stops in the West End neighborhood. As such, Metro and the West End Neighborhood Association (WENA) are coordinating to hold a West End listening session. The proposed new Portland peninsula circulator would replace the current Routes 1 and 8. It travels a loop around the peninsula instead of through it. Additionally, Metro staff have recommended more minor route changes for the 2, 4, 5, 7, and the Husky Line. This includes routing the #5 bus (covering the mall and jetport) to also cover Munjoy Hill, offsetting the loss of Route 1.
West End residents will be the most impacted by the route changes in that they will lose the most stops. Aging and disabled residents of the neighborhood’s assisted living facilities will lose door to door service from their homes to where they buy their groceries, receive medical care, and enjoy the city’s cultural and civic life.
ROUTE 8
come and senior housing, including large residences at 75 and 100 State Street. The problem with Route 8, if there is one, is that it runs in one direction, according to Kim Sutton, WENA President. When Metro asked West End residents what they wanted to improve about the #8, the answer was to increase frequency and make the route bi-directional. “For example, from 77 Pine to Hannaford takes 45 minutes, but from Hannaford back to Pine is fast - about 15 minutes,” noted Sutton in an email to The West End News.
Metro Route 8 draws a circuitous route from downtown and the Metro Pulse through the heart of the West End. It travels to the waterfront and Casco Bay Lines, and then to the East End. Route PROPOSED CIRCULATOR 8 makes a direct stop at the Back Cove Metro describes the proposed route Hannaford. It also travels along Congress as an “urban circulator.” It would loop Street passing Reny’s, the public library, in both directions around the Portland CVS, and Portland City Hall. In addition, peninsula, instead of through it, to proRoute 8 makes its way directly to low-in-
Maps of current Route 8 and proposed Portland Circulator on Back Page. Above: This bus stop at the corner of Carleton and West Streets could be eliminated along with the rest -Photo by Tony Zeli of Route 8. vide faster service with more frequency. The goal is to provide a bus every fifteen minutes and to connect everything from the Ocean Gateway to the transportation center.
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WEST END PEOPLE
The Rise and Fall of the Pine Street Theatre
By Harlan Baker
Theatre was in the Peoples Building on In the spring of 1988 the building on Bracket Street. the corner of Pine and Brackett Streets, Into the midst of all this creative acwhich is now Bonobo Pizza, almost betivity stepped Mark Manette, a native of came a theatre. Windham, Maine. The 1980s saw a growth in small professional or semi-professional theatre companies in Portland. In 1983 the Portland Stage Company moved out of the A Prolific Actor Enters Temple Street parking garage and into the Odd Fellows Hall on Forest Avenue. It was the Theatre Scene converted to a 290-seat theatre with reManette was fresh from the theatre hearsal and studio space. program at Bridgeport College. In 1986 he
Mark Manette:
In 1986 The Mad Horse Theatre Company was founded by local actors performing in the Theatre of Fantasy on Danforth Street. The Shoestring Puppet
In addition to producing and directing he was an actor. He appeared with the Children’s’ Theater of Maine, the Oceanside Player’s summer productions of “Romeo and Juliet,” and Eugene Lonesco’s Shakespearean spoof “Macbett” staged outdoors at Fort Williams park.
Manette’s acting was so prolific that he was appearing in two productions at the same time. In the afternoon he was Tybalt in “Romeo and Juliet.” His character was killed off in Act 3 Scene 1. A body double under a shroud replaced him for moved to Portland and founded a video the final scene. Meanwhile he drove to production company called Port Star Pro- Raymond, changing costume in the car, to ductions. But Manette wanted to produce appear in a Hank Beebe musical, arriving live theater. just in time for the curtain.
He staged his play “Yalata” as the initial theatrical offering for Port Star Productions in the Theatre of Fantasy on Danforth Street. But he wanted his own space.
Genesis of the Pine Street Theatre “I was getting a business loan together for Port Star,” said Manette. “At that point I was looking for studio space that was larger.” In the fall of 1987, he leased space in the former Dudley Weed drug store on the corner of Pine and Brackett Streets and turned it into a rehearsal studio.
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Page 14
Healthy beverages according to Oren Gersten, MD
Pages 16-17
Layne’s Wine Gig dives into two celebrity wines
Page 18
Page 3
Free soil tests for gardeners in high lead risk neighborhoods
Page 6
Zoom conversations on ME’s Climate Action Plan all April
Page 8
Kasandra Thach on ending youth incarceration
Nancy Dorrans takes us to the Azores