Since 1889, the Baxter Building has been a landmark of upper Congress Street. It began its life as the city's library after being donated to our fair town by six-term mayor and philanthropist James Baxter. The library moved down the street in 1979 and in 1983 the Maine College of Art took over the space.

Now MECA has put the building up for sale and the prospective buyer is interested in turning it into office space for creative types. MECA plans to consolidate its offices and classrooms at the Porteous Building, which will surely make life much easier for its students.

Even though I've lived in Portland for a decade, I'd never been inside the Baxter Building, until this weekend. I took a class at MECA that just happened to be held in the Baxter Building. From my brief peek inside, it's clear this building has wonderful architectural potential.

According to a story in the current edition of the "Landmarks Observer" (published by Greater Portland Landmarks), "The structure retains much of its original integrity, though large statues representing History, Literature and Art that once stood on the roof peak and cornice eaves were removed in 1929. The original front doors have been replaced and windows have been modified. Inside, many architectural details remain intact, though MECA installed partitions to divide the former reading room into offices and a mezzanine under the second floor peaked ceiling for its New Media lab."

Here's some of what I saw inside:

This is the lovely stairway that welcomes visitors inside from the street.

And here's the soaring ceiling of what I'm assuming is the former reading room. Below (and out of the frame) are partitions that block off whatever is going on at ground level.