311 at the maine state pier in portland maine
The Maine State Pier is a municipal-owned deepwater marine facility and music venue located at the intersection of Commercial Street and Franklin Street on the eastern waterfront in Portland, Maine.
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It was completed in 1924. In the mid-2000s, competing proposals were examined to redevelop the Maine State Pier into a tourist destination, but difficulties with state regulations and the late-2000s recession halted proposed redevelopment. In 2009, the first annual Portland Lobster Fest was held at the State Pier.
In 2009, the Portland City Council approved spending $2.4 million to redevelop the end of pier. Improvements included the creation of an outdoor music venue. In 2011, rapper Wiz Khalifa and others appeared at the venue. The venue has a maximum capacity of 3,000.
During the 2011 Portland mayoral campaign, several candidates, including former State Senator Ethan Strimling made the lack of redevelopment at the Maine State Pier a key campaign issue. Many of Strimling's largest campaign donors were employees of Ocean Properties, one of the companies which sought to redevelop the pier during the 2000s.