Mechanics' Hall is a historic building and meeting space at 519 Congress Street in downtown Portland, Maine. Built in 1857-59 by and for the members of the Maine Charitable Mechanic Association, it is a well-preserved example of Italianate architecture executed in brick and stone, and a landmark of Portland's downtown business and arts district. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. The building, still owned by MCMA, houses the association's library. MCMA continues to support Maine's creative and entrepreneurial community to this day. Mechanics' Hall hosts the association's creative programming and networking events as well as other community events. The Maine Charitable Mechanic Association was founded in 1815 as a social organization that promoted and supported the skilled trades and their practitioners. Its original members were master craftspeople and entrepreneurs and their apprentices. Today's mechanics are members of the current “makers” movement and Mechanics' Hall is their gathering space. MCMA's mission is to inspire and enrich the community by promoting ingenuity, creativity, innovation, and the diffusion of useful knowledge.
Description
Mechanics Hall is located on the north side of Congress Street in downtown Portland, at the northeast corner with Casco Street. It is a two-story masonry structure, appearing three stories in height owing to an extremely tall second floor. It is covered by a truncated hip roof. Its front facade is finished in granite, while its sides and rear are finished in brick beyond the first bay. The front facade has a pair of commercial storefronts flanking the main building entrance, each storefront having a central recessed entrance. The main entrance is framed by paneled stone posts topped by a lintel on which the building name is incised. The upper-level windows are set in tall openings with rounded-arch tops and quoining of rough textured stone. A bracketed cornice projects along the street-facing sides. The interior of the building has hall on the ground floor with access from both Congress and Casco Streets, and space for the association's library. The upper floor, which originally housed a large meeting space, has been divided into two floors. The Maine Charitable Mechanical Association was formed in 1815 as a charitable and educational association for workers in the "mechanical arts". It sponsored, exhibitions, trade fairs, and lectures on a variety of topics, and accumulated a library.
History
This building was constructed in 1857-59, by members of the association, to a design by Thomas P. Sparrow, also an association member. It is one of only three designs by Sparrow known to survive, and it is the finest of the three. Designer Thomas P. Sparrow was a native Portland architect. The building was constructed from Biddeford granite and stone. The building was dedicated on February 23, 1859. In 1861 it was used by troops heading to fight the Civil War. The building survived the Great Fire of 1866 and was used afterward for municipal services. The upper level interior space was modified in 1890 to plans drawn up by noted Portland architect John Calvin Stevens, converting it to office space and a larger library space. The building underwent interior and exterior restoration in the 2010s. In March 2015 the refurbished ballroom was opened to the publicfor the first time in over fifty years. Refurbishment of the cast iron details at the building's base were recognized with a preservation award in 2016.
