page_title: Time and Temperature Building
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Time and Temperature Building / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Time and Temperature Building
context_page_description: The Time and Temperature Building, originally known as the Chapman Building, and officially 477 Congress Street, is a fourteen-story office building in downtown Portland, Maine. The building is named after a large three-sided four-element eggcrate display screen on the roof that flashes the local time and temperature. It was built in 1924 as a twelve-story building, with Maine's first indoor shopping center on its ground floor. It is located next door to the ten story Fidelity Trust Tower; until the 1970s, these buildings were Portland's only skyscrapers.
  The building, being one of Portland's tallest, is visible on the horizon for a number of miles, including from Peaks Island across the harbor, and it has become a landmark to Portlanders depending on it for not only the sign's time and temperature, but to find their way into Portland.
  Besides general offices, the building is home to the Portland radio cluster of Binnie Media, including WTHT, WHXR and WFNK.
context_section_description: The Chapman Building was designed by local architect Herbert W. Rhodes, who also designed nearby hotel The Eastland. In 1964, Casco Bank, the owner of the building, added two stories, and installed a flashing time and temperature sign on the roof. The addition was incongruent with the original style of the building, but a major renovation in the 1980s in more naturally integrated it into the lower floors.  
  In 1995, millionaire philanthropist Elizabeth Noyce's  Libra Foundation purchased the building. Renovations were completed in 1996, and a new time and temperature sign was installed on the roof in 1999. In 2003, the Libra Foundation sold the building to 477 Congress LLC, a subsidiary of Kalmon Dolgin Affiliates. By 2016, occupancy had dropped to 60%, as lack of maintenance had caused tenants to vacate the building. The building was taken into foreclosure by Wells Fargo on May 11, 2016. Building ownership passed to CW Capital Asset Management, a loan servicing company. An inspection in November 2017 by the Portland Fire Department found 19 fire-safety violations. The building was sold at auction for $9.3 million in October 2018 to TT Maine Venture.
caption: Entrance to the Time and Temperature Building.
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