Visitor Center To Open at Deering Oaks
The Convention and Visitors Bureau of Greater Portland announced on June 9th that the Castle in Deering Oaks Park will be used as a Visitors Center - open year-round, seven days a week. The CVB currently operates visitor centers at the jetport, the train and bus station, cruise ship terminals and on Commercial Street in downtown Portland.

More than 13 million people visit the Greater Portland region annually.

Deering Oaks Park is home to the Farmers’ Market every Saturday throughout the summer, as well as being host of the Tuesday Night Concerts at the Bandstand during July and August.

The Castle in the Park was the first major structure erected in the park - in 1894. The whimsical Victorian building was designed by Frederick Tompson, and built at a cost of $900. Established as a visitors’ shelter and a winter warming hut for skaters, it will now go back to its original purpose.

In 2005, the rehabilitation cost was approximately $700,000 - with nearly $300,000 raised privately by the Friends of Deering Oaks, and the balance of the funding provided by the City of Portland.