Paul Drinan, Executive Director of the Friends of Fort Gorges, This Evening at City Hall.

A View of Fort Gorges Taken Today From Fort Allen Park on the Eastern Promenade.

An Aerial View of Fort Gorges With  Entry Way at Top Left.

Paul Drinan, Executive Director of the Friends of Fort Gorges, is a man on a mission and early this evening he took another important step in his mission when he successfully appeared before the Historic Preservation Committee at city hall.

Drinan’s mission on behalf of the Friends is to facilitate the long-term preservation of this historic Fort located just off the shoreline of Portland.  But in the interim, there are numerous smaller steps needed to get to the permanent preservation of this historic site.

The Fort was named for Sir Ferdinando Gorges, born a commoner in England.  Gorges had ambitious plans for the colonization of Maine, but died before he saw the fruits of those goals.  Surprisingly, Gorges never set foot in Maine.  In his book, “The Lobster Coast,” Colin Woodard, writes a comprehensive account of the life of Gorges.  The Fort was built in 1865 and has long suffered neglect.

Drinan, a professional actor locally, was seeking approval for plans to install a temporary and reversible boat landing and safe walkways at the Fort to improve access and safety for the upcoming tourist season –  approval Drinan received from the HP Board unanimously.

This approval from the HP Board will allow the Friends to host boat tours of the Fort this summer sometime – a needed source to provide revenue to the non-profit so it can proceed with continued preservation efforts as well as to provide educational and recreational opportunities to the public.  This income source would permit the Friends to leverage funding from Portland and other sources.  The Friends will be looking for volunteers to conduct tours of the Fort later this year.   For more information on the Friends efforts to preserve this piece of Portland history, please see post herein dated May 4,2016.

For more information on the entire scope of the Friends preservation efforts, please visit friendsoffortgorges.org.