Mon, 07/15/2024 - 3:00pm

At their regular meeting July 15 in Orono, the University of Maine System Board of Trustees voted unanimously to allow the University of Maine to sell the Frederick Hutchinson Center in Belfast, according to a UMaine announcement.

The Center closed last August after 23 years of educational service to the Midcoast. The Hutchinson Center, the “Hutch”, as it is sometimes called, was named for, University of Maine President Emeritus Frederick E. Hutchinson.

With the Trustees’ authorization, UMaine will move forward in selecting a buyer, the identify of which is expected to be announced in the coming weeks. The transaction would be finalized this fall, according to UMaine.

In early February, the Belfast-based Future of the Hutchinson Center Steering Committee submitted a proposal to the University of Maine in response to UMaine’s Request for Proposals.

UMaine issued its RFP January 17 with a submittal deadline of Monday, February 5. On Friday, February 2, UMaine issued an addendum that delayed the submittal deadline to March 29 “in response to community feedback.” The Committee did not request that the deadline be extended, according to a news release from the Committee.

The Committee’s proposal, made in partnership with the City of Belfast, includes this summary:

“We propose that the University of Maine commit to working with the Future of the Hutchinson Center Steering Committee and the City of Belfast to find a mutually acceptable means of transferring ownership of the Hutchinson Center to the local community. This is the best solution for the citizens of Belfast and Mid-Coast Maine and particularly, we believe, for the University.” In addition to relieving itself from the ongoing operational and maintenance costs of ownership, UMaine would preserve the opportunity for higher education at the Center in the future on a lease basis.

The committee had circulated a public petition advocating transfer of the Center’s ownership from UMaine to the local community. The petition received over 1,000 positive responses through February 1.

In March, a legislative committee killed a bill proposing that transfer.

UMaine issued a competitive request for purchase, lease or creative alternative proposals (RFP) and received multiple offers to buy the property, which includes a 30,500-square-foot main building, 1,960-square-foot barn and 11.6 acres.

UMaine’s RFP can be read here.

UMaine said it has received multiple offers to buy the property.

The corporation MBNA, which invested millions in a number of development projects in the Midcoast during the 1990s and early 2000s, was instrumental in getting UMaine to settle into Belfast with the small satellite campus.

Its mission, as stated at its website, is to: broaden access to University of Maine academic and non-degree programs and services, lifelong learning opportunities, and professional and career development experiences using innovative approaches that increase synergy among University of Maine System entities, University of Maine departments and divisions, and that engage a wider Maine community.

The Center was expanded in 2009 with the Walsh Wing, “named for Edward J. Walsh, the grandfather of Charles Cawley, founder of MBNA and supporter of the Hutchinson Center,” the center said.

The Walsh Wing provided additional space for science labs, classrooms, staff and faculty offices, and a conference center. The H. Allen and Sally Fernald Art Galleryis housed in the Walsh Wing and provides space for a variety of art shows throughout the year.

According to a July 15 news release; “The Hutchinson Center sale is consistent with a commitment in the new UMS strategic plan to achieve fiscal and energy efficiencies by selling or leasing buildings and land that are unused or underutilized, typically because of demographic and higher education delivery changes. More than one-third of the System’s student credit hours are now earned online.

“Property transfers generate savings necessary to maintain affordable UMS education for students and allow the System’s limited financial resources to be focused on improving essential infrastructure.

“Recent sales have also enabled university assets to be repurposed for community benefit or be returned to the tax rolls to generate needed revenue for municipalities. In June, the University of Maine at Presque Isle sold its Houlton Higher Education Center to an area nonprofit that provides services to individuals with intellectual disabilities. Earlier this year, the University of Maine at Augusta sold four undeveloped acres to BangorHousing, making way for 50 new units of needed affordable senior housing.

“Already in 2024, Trustees have also approved the sale or listing of properties in Harmony, Presque Isle and Portland.”