By Nate Jones

Staff Writer 

Commuters along Route 1 in Scarborough can say “goodbye,” to the crooked concrete pilon “Orion Center” sign and “hello,” to the new home for Nordx Laboratories and Maine Medical Partners. On Monday, the planning board unanimously approved a site plan to convert the currently vacant space to a laboratory and office space for the two companies’ employees.

According to SMRT engineer Paul Stevens, the first step in moving in will be to tear down the old Orion Center sign, action that was overwhelmingly welcomed by members of the planning board. 

“Yeah,” Planning Board Member Susan Auglis said, clapping her hands together.

MaineHealth is an organization of laboratories, hospitals and practitioners across central and southern Maine. According to town assessor records, MaineHealth purchased the approximately 16-acre parcel for more than $7.3 million in November 2008. Future plans for the site focus primarily on a renovation of the two larger buildings, totaling more than 90,000 square feet, MaineHealth Vice President of Planning Paul Graham said.

“It’s a major reconditioning of an existing site. It’s a development that is sorely needed,” Graham said. “We will bring to the site a new vitality, a new presence.”

 Paul Stevens, an engineer with SMRT, said renovations would include a parking reduction of approximately 100 spaces, construction of a new exit onto Route 1 and a walkway in front of “Building One,” the largest structure on the parcel. Building One will be the new home of Nordx laboratories, currently located farther north off Route 1 on Campus Drive, and “Building Two” will house administrative offices for Maine Medical Partners, Stevens said. Other than several fume stacks, some rooftop equipment toward the rear of the buildings, a sound-proofed generator on the backside of Building One and an entryway connecting the two large buildings, Stevens said the structures’ exteriors will remain largely the same. To satisfy concerns from abutting residential property owners, Stevens said lights in the parking lot will be turned off at night and plans include “intense buffering” with landscaping along its borders.

Stevens said the project does not include plans to renovate “Building Three,” a smaller structure closer to Route 1. The space may be leased to another company, such as a bank, he said. 

The omission of Building Three concerned at least one member of the board.

“It’s a blemish,” Planning Board Member Paul Chamberlain said. “It takes a little away from the grand scheme of the project.”

Stevens said the project has been reviewed by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and Department of Transportation. Both departments have issued permits for the renovation project, he said. 

“It’s obviously exciting to be on the verge of having something happen with that property,” Planning Board Member Cory Fellows said. 

Stevens said MaineHealth expected to begin construction this fall and could possibly move Maine Medical Partners into Building Two by 2010.

Staff Writer Nate Jones may be reached at 282-4337 ext. 233.