New apartment building offers 43 units, green features

Today's opening of the brand new 53 Danforth apartment building was celebrated by a line-up of well-known speakers. At the podium is Chellie Pingree, Maine's 1st District representative to the U.S. Congress, who is fresh from her much talked about appearance on The Colbert Report. To her left are Dale McCormick, director of the Maine State Housing Authority, Governor John Baldacci, the project's developers Nathan Szanton and Bob Monks, and, just out of the frame, Portland Mayor Jill Duson.

They gathered to applaud the construction of this attractive 43-unit apartment building named 53 Danforth in reference to its street address. It includes 30 affordable apartments and 13 market rate apartments. Located in the Studio District, this apartment building has super-insulated walls, solar hot water heaters, low-flow showerheads, Energy Star appliances and efficient lighting. Tenants who don't own cars will receive a monthly rent reduction of $40. For those who want to go car-free, this location is pretty sweet. It's right next to the West End and Old Port and surrounded by eateries, including Yosaku, Portland Pie and El Rayo Taqueria.

Here's a view of part of the crowd that filled much of Danforth Street. There are lots of notable people in this shot, and I'll just point out a few. In the dark suit is Hans Underdahl, president of the Portland Museum of Art Board of Trustees, and next to him in the tan suit is Mark Bessire, the museum's director. When the museum bought the old YWCA next to its campus it placed $900,000 in escrow to replace the housing formerly in the Y building. That money helped fund this project.

To Mark's right, also in a tan summer suit, is Dave Birkhahn of TD Banknorth, who helped make the project possible by facilitating the bank's purchase of the property's low-income housing tax credits. In front of Mark, is the Portland Press Herald's summer intern Tim Devaney, who will have a story about the new building in tomorrow's paper, accompanied by photos from staff photographer John Ewing, in the green shirt. Be sure to check it out.

As you can see, there were TV crews at the event as well. The lady in the black pants and lime green top is Patty McDougal, who has already rented an apartment in the building. According to Nathan Szanton, others who have leased apartments include a waitress, a Shaw's clerk and an LL Bean manager.

This is a typical kitchen layout in the building's one and two bedroom units. In the units I toured, prices ranged from $771 for an affordable one-bedroom (renters must meet income guidelines) to $1,395 for a market rate one-bedroom.

Without a doubt, the best apartment in the building is this one-bedroom which comes with a giant rooftop deck with views of the harbor and the West End. It rents for $1,550. Should you want to check out these new digs before they're all rented, call Karen Walker at Dirigo Management Company at 871-1080.

New Eco-Elegance shop recycles weddings

April Randolph, a former sea turtle biologist, shows off a silk Vera Wang wedding dress in her brand new Eco-Elegance consignment shop on Market Street in the Old Port. While the store offers a sleek, polished look, this isn't your typical bridal boutique. All the gowns are "pre-loved" (as April calls them), and the goal is to help local brides reduce wedding costs and then recycle wedding items after the big day has passed. As an example, this Vera Wang dress cost $5,000 new and is selling for $2,500 at Eco-Elegance.

A number of the gowns have never been worn. It's not that the weddings didn't happen, but rather reflects the trend of brides buying more than one dress before deciding (often just a day or two before the wedding) which one to wear. The other dresses, with tags still attached, can't be returned to the retailers where they came from, but they can be consigned to Eco-Elegance, where the bride will get 50% of the sales price.

For April, the switch from scientist to shop owner came when she realized she wanted to put her environmental values to use in a way that allowed her to interact more with people. So she swapped biology for ball gowns.

The shop also accepts bridesmaids gowns, mother of the bride dresses and general evening wear.

Oh yes, and there are shoes too. The only new items in the store are the lingerie pieces.

Another really cool feature of the shop is the section selling candles, cake cutters, flower baskets, napkins, centerpieces and other decor items. Many brides put hours and hours of time and significant amounts of cash into creating gorgeous decorations that are only enjoyed for a few fleeting hours. Now brides can recoup some of this time and money, and brides-to-be can get first rate decor for discounted prices.

No appointment is needed to come into the shop and try on dresses. Even though the atmosphere is laid back, the store's design and amenities are just as elegant as the name.

Eco-Elegance is located at 157 Middle St, near the entrance to Videoport & Bull Moose. It is open Wed-Sat 10 am-6 pm and Sun 1-6 pm. FMI call 828-4696.

Thin crust pizza & green furniture come to Congress

Portland is blessed with an abundance of pizza parlors, but the city's main drag has been woefully underserved when it comes to pies and slices. Not any more. Otto Pizza, at 576 Congress St. (near the Portland Museum of Art and across the street from Empire Dine & Dance), recently opened with thin crust pizzas. The counter service joint is owned by Anthony Allen (left) and managed by Mike Keon (right).

There's no set menu at this point, but you can buy slices ($3-$3.50) or whole pies ($12.99) and Anthony and Mike can accommodate most of the standard requests such as pepperoni, cheese or veggie. The cheese blend includes whole milk mozzarella, asiago and fontina. A selection of sandwiches, salads and scratch made cannolis will be added soon.

Anthony and Mike are using local ingredients whenever they can. Of course, you can't get more local than the potted herb garden they have growing in the front window. These fresh, savory seasonings are added to all the pies.

Next door, there's another cool new shop to check out. Good Earth Furniture opened roughly a week ago and is offering a unique line of furniture made from old shipping pallets and other reclaimed wood. Since shipping pallets are made from a wide variety of wood, including mahogany, oak and cherry, the furniture makers have plenty of choices. The business is owned by Dana Awtry and all the furniture is built in Portland.

When I stopped by, Annmarie Lunt was holding down the fort. She's a recent MECA grad with a BFA in woodworking and furniture design and says the job is a perfect fit for her. The company offers a wide-range of furniture pieces, from jelly cabinets to coffee tables. Annmarie says they always wait until a customer buys a piece before adding any shelving, as this allows the customer to specify what would work best.

For instance, this sweet-looking armoire (priced at $1,200) could be fitted with shelves to hold sweaters or configured to accommodate an entertainment system. Smaller cabinets generally range in price from $200-$400. The shop carries pottery by Leestice and has a few furniture pieces made by a local woman's grandfather who used wood reclaimed from a bar that operated in Portland in the 1700s.

Otto Pizza (at left) is open seven days a week. It stays open until 2 am Thur-Sat and is open until 9 pm the rest of the week. They will deliver pizzas within the immediate area. Call 773-7099 to order.

Good Earth Furniture is open from 9 am-5 pm, seven days a week. Custom orders are welcome. Call 603-738-7579 for more info.

Partying in the new solar showroom

The sweet summer sounds of the Pete Kilpatrick Band filled the new Portland showroom and warehouse of ReVision Energy on Friday night for the Grand Opening Summer Solstice party. The event, which featured free drinks from Allagash and Maine Mead Works and free food from Local Sprouts Cooperative and Katie Made Bakery, served to introduce the Greater Portland community to this new showroom offering alternative energy systems.

Founded in 2003 in Liberty, ME, ReVision Energy is known for its solar electric and solar hot water systems. Here ReVision system designer and project manager Geoff Sparrow shows off one of the grid-tied solar electric panels. The average house needs about 14-16 of these panels in order to supply the bulk of its electrical needs. This type of system costs between $20,000-$25,000 installed. Maine's solar rebate program has already run out of money for the year, but these systems remain eligible for a 30% federal tax credit.

The company also sells gasification wood boilers. Here ReVision expert Dan Comeau shows off one of the units to my husband, Adam. These puppies burn at a 90-95% efficiency rate and only need to be filled with wood once a day. They're typically installed in a basement.

A number of green businesses and nonprofits set up info tables at the party, including Fred Horch, who owns the F.W. Horch sustainable goods store in Brunswick and is a columnist for The Maine Switch. Other exhibitors included Reverb, Maine Green Building Supply, Maine Businesses for Social Responsibility and the Maine Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council.

And while the kids were thrilled to have a moonbounce in the house, everyone got a kick out of this MadGirl World performance by artist Meredith Alex's daughter Max. Despite all the camera flashes and comments from the swirling crowd, Max stood like a regal statue, occasionally adjusting her stance, but not even once swaying to the sounds of the music.

Hoppin' party at February's Greendrinks

Hundreds of people turned out for last night's Greendrinks social networking event at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore. This was one of the best gatherings yet, with a real cocktail party feel due to all the different spots where people could mingle among the building supplies.

Portland Greendrinks founder Elliott May thanked everyone for coming and introduced the evening's host, Steve Bolton.

Steve is the executive director of Greater Portland Habitat for Humanity, which runs the ReStore. He dispelled some common myths about Habitat (it's not a government program, it wasn't started by President Jimmy Carter and it doesn't give away homes for free) and explained how the ReStore sells donated building supplies at a big discount to support Habitat's home building program.

Along with lovely apps, there were lots of local drinks to sample. Here Nick Higgins and Eli Cayer of Maine Mead Works handed out shot glass sized samples of their very tasty dry and semi sweet HoneyMaker mead.

The guys from Sebago Brewing Company were pouring up Slick Nick Winter Ale and Boathouse Brown Ale.

Anyone who made it all the way into the back room had the opportunity to try the very smooth and tasty Peak Organic Pomegranate Wheat Ale with Acai. The all organic brewery has been working on the recipe since at least last spring, and while it's not in stores yet, Geoff Masland tells me it will be soon.

Here are a few of the Greendrinkers who agreed to smile for the camera:

Heather Chandler, who publishes the popular SunriseGuide, and Jennie Vieira, who just opened her own massage business for women called Blossom Massage.

Geoffrey Starrett and Katie Gallagher, who both managed to look good even though we were all sweltering under a heat lamp.

And Jon Sundberg, who deserves a prize for the most humorous mug. The goal is to have more people emulate Jon and bring their own reusable mug to cut down on waste.

Should you want to be there for the next Greendrinks, mark you calendar for March 10. I'm not sure where the next party will be, but you can find out by checking the website or becoming a fan of the group on Facebook.

Posh new digs for Head Games & The Landing

The Head Games Salon for Hair & Body recently moved into an expansive space, which includes the brand new Landing Center for Healing Arts. Salon owner Alanna Peterkin kindly offered to show me around the renovated salon, which features lots of planet-friendly materials, such as cork floors and low-VOC paint.

When you first walk into the space at 116 Free Street, you see these salon stations (note the hanging hair dryers) and the curved bar. At the bar, stylists not only mix up hair color, but also cocktails for customers.

To the right of this area is a lovely white couch, where Peterkin (center) and her team of first-rate stylists agreed to gather for a photo.

Tucked into the well-lit area at the front of the shop, there's a make-up station featuring the all-natural Young Blood line. The salon also offers its own line of hair care products called Use Me, which I wrote about last September for Switch.

Peterkin's good friend Deanna Talarico (left) is the force behind The Landing, which offers daily classes in things like yoga, spinnng, Zumba, pilates, KettleBall, Latin Dance and Tai Chi. She's standing here with instructor Valerie Davis who offers LifeBreath classes. The drop-in rate for classes is $15 per hour, and you also can buy packages, such as the 10 Hour Package for $120, which allows you to attend any classes you want and includes a one month membership to the Heat Suite.

Speaking of that Heat Suite, the basement level of the buildings offers a number of massage therapy rooms, showers, a regular hot air sauna and this infrared sauna, which uses infrared radiation to instantly and directly heat your body. Come spring, Peterkin plans to add lockers and a storage area for bikes. She'll then sell passes to bike commuters allowing them to use the showers and changing rooms.

Need a cut or a color? Call them up at 773-8393.

Habitat's Portland homes go green

Habitat for Humanity of Greater Portland's Build it Green mini-subdivision held an open house on Saturday to showcase two of its homes that are nearing completion, and Adam and I went with my parents to check them out. Habitat hopes both will achieve LEED certification from the US Green Building Council when done. The homes are part of a four-home building project the nonprofit is undertaking on Demerest Street. Two of the homes will be sold to Habitat-qualified families, and the other two (the ones we toured) will be sold to first-time home buyers through a Maine State Housing Authority program.

You can see the solar hot water panels that are in process of being installed on this one-story, three-bedroom home. All of the home designs come from the Maine State Housing Authority's Mainestream Green Home Designs competition. The competition challenged architects to design affordable homes that are efficient and healthy places to live.

As you can see, there was quite a crowd that showed up for the tours. The refreshments were an attraction, but so too were cool features such as radiant-heated, stained concrete floors, salvaged doors from the ReStore and cabinets from Maine Green Building Supply and Indisco. The pervious concrete used on the driveways was really cool too. It looks like regular concrete, but allows water to drain through into the soil instead of running off into the storm sewers.

Both houses even have lovely granite countertops.

While the other homes are all spoken for, I hear that this one is still in need of a buyer.

And for folks who like the convenience of city living but want a bucolic setting, you really can't beat these views.

Car sharing comes to Portland

Portland's brand-new U Cars have rolled into town. Two of these sleek PT Cruisers can be found parked on Elm Street (next to the library and across from the METRO station) and another two can be found on Commercial Street, near the ferry terminal. U-Haul runs U Car Share, which is one of a growing number of car sharing programs operating throughout the country.

The concept behind these programs is simple. Rather than going to the expense of owning and operating a car that sits idle for days or weeks at a time, city dwellers can instead subscribe to a car sharing program and just pay to use it when they need it. Reserving a car is easy, and it's all done online.

Normally the sign-up fee for U Car is $50, but if you go to the U Car website, click on Portland, ME and register using the code MAINESWITCH2009, the fee will be waived.

After that the costs are straightforward. You pay $9.50 an hour, up to a maximum of $66 for the full day. You don't even have to pay for the gas. Everyone benefits from this program (whether you sign up or not) because it means fewer cars on the road and cuts the city's need for parking.

The U Cars have designated on-street parking spots that the city has made available free of charge for one year. After that, U Car will pay for the spots.

Utopia makes old stuff cool again

I've been wondering what was going into the storefront in the recently completed glass-fronted building attached to the Portland Harbor Hotel, and today I found out. It's a sleek new furniture gallery called Utopia, where everything on display is created from reclaimed materials.

Shop manager Elena Usova was kind enough to show me around and tell me about the company's green philosophy. The wood comes from things like old pickle barrels and tobacco barns, and the metal in one of the pieces began life as a bridge. A few pieces are made from eco-friendly bamboo. Veering away from petroleum-based lacquers, finishes for the wood include citrus oil and natural wax.

Utopia runs a manufacturing facility in Gorham, where it's been making custom fixtures and furnishings for stores and restaurants for a number of years. Rather than showcasing commissioned work, the retail space contains Utopia's own line. But custom orders are welcome too.

Here's the Kinetic Table and Kinetic Chairs, which boast clean lines and a modern aesthetic. The table sells for $3,000 and the chairs go for $780.

This edgy table ensemble is one of president Ty Parr's latest creations. Parr and Brett Miller are the designer brains behind all this beauty.

Here's the Cashmere Sofa ($3,600), which is an utter dream to sink into. Should you want to give it try, head over to Utopia tomorrow night, Dec. 11, from 7-9 pm for a grand opening party. I can't promise Shangri-La, but I do hear there will be free drinks.

Utopia is located at 470 Fore St. It's open from 10 am-8 pm seven days a week. FMI call 899-4266 or click on over to www.utopiadesigns.com.

On the eco island

Last night was the monthly Greendrinks gathering. In the past, we Greendrinkers have hob-nobbed it up at a business on the peninsula. But last night we went much further afield. Actually, I'm not even sure we were still in Portland.

All 110 of us hopped a charted boat and cruised out to Cow Island, home of Rippleffect. The night's festivities were co-sponsored by the organizers of the Kindle Bioneers conference coming to USM Portland in October. (The connection comes from Kindle organizer Ted Regan, who is one of the original founders of Rippleffect.)

The first order of business was to divide us up into five groups for a tour around the island. This turned out to be more difficult than you'd think. I took this shot right after the group leaders (in the center) proposed that we count off by five to split into groups. Boy, was that an unpopular suggestion! The reaction may have seemed a little odd, considering the fact that Greendrinks is a social networking group, but I think it had more to do with us urbanites finding ourselves on a very rustic island and not wanting to abandon the time honored code of the buddy system. (Motto: No friend left behind.)

Our group had the good fortune of being led by singer/songwriter Emilia Dahlin, who happens to be Rippleffect's Duchess of Discovery for Fort Lyon. (Note to self: I really need to get a better title!) Here she is showing off the new composting toilets.

And here are the older composting toilets. I admit I didn't try them out, but I heard that they were quite nice. The newer toilets have a solar array that powers a fan to ward off any smells.

Located next to Great Diamond Island and Long Island, the 26 acre Cow Island is the home of Fort Lyons, which was built in 1907. The hub of the island is located here, where the former officer barracks are being fixed up for re-use. Isn't it amazing what a little lime green paint, a string of Tibetan prayer flags and some potted plants can do for an abandoned building? This section of the island also features a brand new commercial kitchen. Other green highlights here include:

A rainwater collection system

A solar panel to power the kitchen and a few lights

And an artsy cobb oven

Rippleffect has plans for many of the old fort structures that are hidden across the island under the fast-growing bittersweet. Here's a little bunker which will someday be the Cow Island library. This inspired my friends Kate and Shannon to strike a proper bibliophile pose.

Our tour ended at an old watch tower with a stellar view. This shot shows Great Diamond Island and Peaks Island, in the distance.

After hiking across the island, we were ready for some Peak Organic beer, organic wine from Rosemont Market & Bakery and food donated by Flatbread, Amato's and Norm's.

Instead of our typical citified networking, we got to mingle under the wide open skies.

All too soon it was time to board the boat and head back to Portland. As you may be able to tell from my crazy grin, I've had a few glasses of wine at this point. It probably didn't help that the boat's liquor license rules forced me and a bunch of other people to chug our drinks dockside (good thing I took that course in college). Because everything was organic, I didn't wake up with a hangover this morning. Thanks Greendrinks for an organic good time!