Portland Regency Hotel & Spa

Portland Regency Hotel & Spa
The hotel's main entrance (2023)
Portland Regency Hotel & Spa is located in Maine
Portland Regency Hotel & Spa
Location within Maine
General information
Location20 Milk Street, Portland, Maine, U.S.
Coordinates43°39′26″N 70°15′10″W / 43.6571°N 70.2528°W / 43.6571; -70.2528
Completed1895 (130 years ago) (1895)

The State of Maine Armory (also known as Portland Armory and now as Portland Regency Hotel & Spa) is an historic building in Portland, Maine's Old Port District. The brick building spans from its entrance at 20 Milk Street to Fore Street at its rear and parallels Market Street and Silver Street on its west and east sides. [1] The historic Boothby Square is located on Fore Street behind the hotel.

History

The State of Maine Armory was designed by prominent local architect Frederick A. Tompson and built in 1895, on land donated to the city ninety years earlier by Joseph Holt Ingraham,[2] for use by the Maine National Guard.[3] Upon its opening, the then-mayor of Portland, James Phinney Baxter, said: "The possession of quarters in a prominent place, where the men would always be under the public eye, would be the means of improving the morale of the force."[4] In 1941, the National Guard abandoned the building, but it was used to house troops during World War II as well as a recreation center.[5] After the war, the structure was used as a warehouse until it was converted into the current hotel in 1987.[6]

The 2020 renovation followed one in 2012 that cost around $2.8 million.[7]

The hotel is a member of Historic Hotels of America.[8]

Hotel restaurants

The main-floor restaurant is named eighteen95, as a nod to the year the building was completed. Its basement-level lounge is named The Armory. A whiskey bar, Ironside, was added on the lobby level during renovations in 2020 (Portland Armory supplied the USS Constitution, nicknamed Old Ironsides, with ammunition).[9]

References

  1. ^ Moon, John (2009). Portland. Arcadia Publishing. p. 45. ISBN 978-0-7385-6517-0.
  2. ^ Little, George Thomas (1909). Genealogical and Family History of the State of Maine. Lewis historical publishing Company.
  3. ^ Maine, Writers' Program (U S. ); Program (Me.), Writers' (1940). Portland City Guide. Forest city printing Company. p. 251.
  4. ^ "Milk Street Armory, Portland, 1898". Maine Memory Network. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  5. ^ "Armory, Portland, 1898". Maine Memory Network. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  6. ^ Bauer, Steve; Bauer, Linda (2009). Recipes from Historic New England: A Restaurant Guide and Cookbook. Taylor Trade Publications. ISBN 978-1-58979-440-5.
  7. ^ "Regency Hotel seeks 'luxury' market with $2.8M renovation". Mainebiz. May 8, 2012. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  8. ^ "Portland Regency Hotel & Spa". Historic Hotels of America. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  9. ^ Bryan, Angie (2021-03-22). "Bar Guide: Ironside is a whiskey lover's paradise". Press Herald. Retrieved 2022-12-23.


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