The official residence of Gov. Janet Mills will have a new security fence and other upgrades by the end of 2025, as part of a Blaine House project that has been years in the making.
The highlight of the ongoing improvements — which grew out of a 2018 security study and are estimated to cost $4.5 million — is a new fence that crews are building around the perimeter of the Blaine House property along Chamberlain, Capitol and State streets in Augusta. It is made out of stone masonry and metal, similar to the barrier surrounding the State House.
The new reinforced fence will be “more substantial and provide greater security” than the wooden picket fence that previously ringed the Blaine House, said Department of Administrative and Financial Services spokesperson Sharon Huntley. A new electronic security system featuring improved lighting and cameras is also in the works.
While the project has been years in the making, recent attacks on politicians nationally have drawn renewed attention to the safety of elected officials including Mills, a Democrat who is termed out of office next year, and other lawmakers. The Blaine House improvements are expected to wrap up in November, per Huntley.
Workers have already completed or are in the process of making additional changes to the property at the Blaine House, which was built by retired ship captain James Hall in 1833 and purchased in 1862 by famed Maine politician James G. Blaine as a gift for his wife.
Former Gov. Carl E. Milliken, a Republican, was Maine’s first chief executive to live on the premises and in 1920 commissioned the well-known Olmsted Brothers architectural firm to design the Blaine House grounds. The ongoing work includes landscaping and the replacing or resetting of sidewalks and curbs by the property across the street from the State House.
The first phase of the project included the addition of an Americans with Disabilities Act-accessible entrance in the back of the house. The current phase saw the demolition of the staff house and continues with asbestos removal, repairs to the adjacent garage wall and roof, new gates for vehicles and pedestrians and the addition of an ADA-accessible path from Chamberlain Street to the back lawn that hosts events, Huntley said.
Across Capitol Street, a $7.2 million project is also continuing at the State House and Cross Office Building, with a new Cross security entrance and a “reworked” State House security entrance expected to be completed by the start of the next legislative session in January, according to Huntley.
All of the projects are funded through a 2024 bond, with some General Fund dollars going to the Blaine House project, she said.