ROCKPORT, Maine — The Center for Maine Contemporary Art has sold its property that has been a center for artists in the village for nearly 50 years.
And the new owner said the property will continue to support the arts.
The Center for Maine Contemporary Art, which is planning to move into its new Rockland complex on Winter Street in the spring, sold its 162 Russell Ave. property on Friday to a limited liability company created last month.
Dorsey Gardner, who has a home on nearby Mechanic Street in Rockport, said he created 162 Russell Avenue LLC and bought the property partly as a defensive move. He said the building is a beautiful one with historic and cultural significance to the town.
“It’s difficult to preserve small communities and I wanted to make sure it would be preserved,” he said.
Gardner said his wife is a photographer and he wanted to get her studio space. He also paints and will have a studio in the building for himself. The remainder of the building will be used to support art exhibits in town. He said pop art shows could be held at the building and it could be used as a venue for town events in general.
James Francomano, the town’s planner and community development director, caled the purchase good news.
“It’s fantastic that the building will be kept in circulation as a destination for people to come to the downtown,” Francomano said.
The town’s public library is relocating temporarily to Route 1 until plans are developed to build a new one on the village site. The library property is located diagonally across the street from the arts center.
The arts center building needs maintenance, Gardner said, including a new roof. That work will be done during the winter, he said. The property sold by the arts center is a three-story building on nearly one-fifth acre of land.
Gardner has been living seasonally in Rockport for 15 years and had been coming to Maine earlier to the Bailey Island area, he said. He lives the remainder of the time in Florida.