Stevens Square Community Center Recognized with 2023 Greater Portland Landmarks Preservation Award

Honoring Adaptive Reuse, Preservation, and Community Impact

We’re proud to share that Developers Collaborative was honored with a 2023 Greater Portland Landmarks Preservation Award for their work on the Stevens Square Community Center — a transformative adaptive reuse project in Portland’s Deering Center neighborhood.

Each year, Greater Portland Landmarks celebrates projects and individuals who demonstrate excellence in preservation, storytelling, adaptive reuse, placemaking, and craftsmanship. The 2023 awardees included a remarkable mix of people and places who are reshaping Greater Portland’s built environment while honoring its past.

From stewards of historic properties to restoration professionals and policy advocates, we were thrilled to be recognized among such a distinguished group. The full list of 2023 honorees includes:

• Vana Carmona

• Lee Humiston of the Maine Military Museum and Learning Center

• Deb Andrews

• Peter Lord of Peter Lord Plaster & Paint Inc.

• Developers Collaborative

• First Parish Portland Unitarian Universalist

• Bucknam Tavern

  
  

This year, Greater Portland Landmarks is also recognizing its 2025 awardees — Fifth Maine Museum, Woodhull Maine, and Thompson Block — as part of its 60th Birthday Party and Awards Celebration on October 28 at 6 PM. Learn more at portlandlandmarks.org.

A Project Profile: Stevens Square Community Center

As described by Maine Preservation:

Originally opened in 1969 as Catherine McAuley High School, the building served generations of students as a private girls’ preparatory school before becoming the Maine Girls’ Academy. When the academy closed its doors in 2018, the building sat vacant — leaving a void in the Deering Center neighborhood.

That’s when Developers Collaborative stepped in to reimagine the space.

Led by Kevin Bunker, the 50,000-square-foot building was transformed into a vibrant community hub that serves residents of the surrounding Stevens Square campus and the broader public. The redevelopment required rezoning for commercial use, expansion of the National Register Historic District to include the high school, and critical historic tax credit funding — all made possible through strong partnerships and careful planning.

Preserving Character, Creating Opportunity

Working with Archetype Architects, Portland Builders, and Essex Preservation Consulting, the rehabilitation preserved the building’s mid-century modernist character while upgrading outdated systems, replacing the roof, restoring the pool, and adding a UV air filtration system during the pandemic.

The interior was transformed to house:

• A daycare

• A full-service wellness and health clinic

• A local café

• Commercial office space adapted from classrooms

• A preserved gymnasium and auditorium

  
  

The building now supports over 70 jobs, many of which are newly created, and is home to organizations including a speech therapy practice, a Spanish school, a physical therapy practice, an architecture firm, family counseling services — as well as the new headquarters of Developers Collaborative and Good Theater in residence at the newly renovated auditorium.

A Legacy of Connection

As Maine Preservation beautifully describes:

We’re proud to have helped transform this important building from a shuttered school into a meaningful space for connection, well-being, and shared purpose.

Thank You

Our heartfelt thanks to Greater Portland Landmarks for recognizing the Stevens Square Community Center with a 2023 Preservation Award, and to Maine Preservation for highlighting the project’s impact through their detailed write-up.

To read more about the award and other honored projects, visit: www.portlandlandmarks.org

To learn more about the history and evolution of Stevens Square Community Center, visit: www.mainepreservation.org