FREEPORT – Annette and Brian Knighton hope to break ground on Aug. 1 for a new Freeport Medical Center, which will house Brian Knighton’s medical practice, as well as two others.

The Project Review Board not only approved the application last Wednesday night, board members also praised the design of the 67,000-square-foot building on three floors and the grounds surrounding it. Well-known Freeport builder Houses & Barns by John Libby will construct the Freeport Medical Center.

“I think it’s a very attractive building, with different angles to it,” said board Chairman Cliff Goodall.

“This is a very well-considered project,” said Alan Tracy. “This is a well-traveled and visible intersection.”

The new Freeport Medical Center will occupy a space near Interstate 295 and the Pownal Road. The Knightons hope to have the new facility up and running by next spring.

The Freeport residents are moving their practice from just down the road, where Durham Road becomes Mallett Drive, at 42 Mallett Drive. The practice has existed there on leased property since 2006.

“We really had outgrown it,” said Annette Knighton, who is the practice manager, and president of ACG Properties LLC, which is developing the new building. “It was 11,000-12,000 square feet.”

She declined to say how much the project will cost.

Brian Knighton, a doctor of osteopathy, said that the new facility will provide patients with more privacy.

The Knightons plan to occupy the first floor of the building, which will be painted a soft yellow, with another medical practice in the basement, and still another on the second floor. They are in negotiations with people who might fill those vacancies, but were not ready to divulge names last week.

“We want to have a practice that advocates the points of convenience, competence and compassion,” he said. “We have the modern equipment, but we want to treat people like an old-fashioned doctor.”

Annette Knighton is pleased to have Libby, known for his timber-framed homes and barns, as the builder.

“This is a community effort, with John Libby and with our staff,” she said. “Our goal is to serve local people. We wanted that space to serve people in Durham, Freeport, Pownal and Brunswick.”

Freeport Medical, which also will offer a walk-in clinic, now serves between 3,000 and 4,000 patients, Brian Knighton said.

The house that was on the 23 Durham Road property was torn down last month. A new septic system will be installed, as well as a new well.

The building will be two stories with a walk-out basement. One of the entryways will serve the basement and second floors, while Knighton’s practice will have its own entrance. There will be a 30-space parking lot. The parking area and building will be connected with a pedestrian walkway. There will be a retaining wall with a guardrail along the rear portion of the lot.

The Knightons plan landscaping around the building and in front of the portion of the parking lot facing Durham Road.

Libby and Kylie Mason, landscape architect for civil engineering firm Sebago Technics, made brief presentations to the Project Review Board, and displayed drawings of the building.

Tracy mentioned the slope and “topographical challenges” of the property.

“This looks like a great solution to the parking,” Tracy said, looking at the drawing.

Tracy also asked Libby how the building and grounds will fit into the look of nearby buildings.

“I think it’s fairly traditional,” Libby said.

Work could begin next month on this 67,000-square-foot Freeport Medical Center building, at 23 Durham Road, which won Project Review Board approval last week.