The Portland Museum of Art has officially acquired four downtown properties from MaineHealth, which is planning to move its headquarters to Westbrook. <\/p>\n
The PMA has closed on the sale of four MaineHealth properties on Free Street for $14 million, according to a museum spokesperson. <\/p>\n
The PMA says it will move its administrative offices<\/a> to one of the Free Street properties. <\/p>\n The expansion is in addition to plans to build a new museum wing<\/a> at the site of the former Children’s Museum. The building at 142 Free Street has since been demolished, following a lengthy debate about the historical significance of the property that ended in court<\/a> earlier last year.<\/p>\n Starting next year, MaineHealth said it will move its headquarters offices and about 300 employees to a building it owns in Westbrook.<\/p>\n “The pandemic really changed the way people in administrative roles work,” Kelly Elkins, chief operating officer of MaineHealth, said in a statement. “People are working from home more when it makes sense to do so. This has led to an under-utilization of our Free Street offices.”<\/p>\n The move is part of a larger plan to reduce overhead and will save $1.5 million each year, hospital system officials said. <\/p>\n