By David Harry

Staff Writer

Eric Matheson is trying for a fourth take in his effort to lease the former Maine National Guard armory on Broadway.

“Things are progressing well, we have covered all the bases,” Matheson said. The Cape Elizabeth resident wants to lease more than 10,000 square feet for a film production facility in the 67-year-old armory. With the exception of areas used by South Portland police and fire departments, the facility would use the entire armory, he said.

Matheson, owner of Native Son Productions and a 40-year veteran of the film industry, said his proposed Fore River Soundstage could be in business early next year.

City Manager James Gailey also expressed optimism about completing a lease.

“We are in the 11th hour and expect to have something before council in the next two months,” he wrote in an e-mail.

Matheson and Gailey said they could not comment on specifics of the lease, but Matheson said it would be three, five-year leases with the option to buy at the end of each lease term.

Matheson, 68, said the production facility would allow sets to be built as high as three stories. The facility would have carpentry and electrical shops, a photo lab and post-production equipment for editing and mixing.

The facility could be rented to production companies and Matheson said he would be on hand to lend expertise he has gained from building sets and working on special effects for about 80 movies, including “Amistad,” “The Man Without a Face” and “Blown Away.”

“I’ll swing a hammer, too. I’m not that old,” he said.

Matheson said he has been interested in leasing the former armory for at last three years. The city bought the building and about 2 1/2 acres for $650,000 in 2006 and currently appraises the land and armory at almost $647,000.

“It’s an attractive building, it even looks like a studio,” Matheson said.

He said renovating the building would take a lot of work, from the roof to electrical system. Aside from some work on the roof, improvements and renovations would be paid for by Matheson and his investors, he said, at a cost of about $3 million over the next five years.

The extensive work will not prevent using the armory in the short term, Matheson said.

“I can go into a warehouse without heat and work in it,” he said.

Except for garage and storage, the armory has been vacant since 1994 when the Maine Army National Guard moved out. Matheson said he also is willing to allow some expansion of space for the police and fire departments.

Representatives of the Glass and Ceramics Museum purchased the building for $550,000 in 2002 and intended to use it as a new location for the museum, then located on Douglas Mountain Road in Sebago. 

However, those plans fell through and the city bought the armory as part of bankruptcy proceedings initiated by the museum owners.

 The city offered Matheson a lease in June, but Gailey said Matheson did not accept the offer because he had questions about certain provisions.

“I feel as we have worked with them and heard their concerns and tried to address the concerns through alternative language, without sacrificing the integrity of the lease,” Gailey said.

The revisions must be reviewed by Matheson’s lawyer, his business partner and investors, Matheson said. He said lease negotiations with Gailey and city councilors progressed as officials realized how the armory could be used and the economic benefits that would spread to other local businesses.

Hiring local contractors, buying hardware and building materials locally and visits to area restaurants were several ways Matheson said companies renting Fore River Soundstage could spend locally.

He said the building would contain the only post-production facility north of Boston and that it would be larger than any in Boston.

Not having to go to New York or Boston for post-production work will save local production companies money, he said.

Matheson said he is optimistic Fore River Soundstage will be rented quickly and frequently after it opens, at first by local companies.

“There is plenty of work out there in the film business,” Matheson said.

Staff Writer David Harry can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 219.