Community Signs Steel Beam at Hutchinson Center, Signifying New Connections
Contact: Joe Carr at (207) 581-3571
BELFAST, Me. — Community leaders and University of Maine representatives gathered at UMaine’s Hutchinson Center this morning, to celebrate the connection of the center’s new addition to its existing facility. Hutchinson Center Director Sue McCullough and others signed their names to a steel beam, just before Wright-Ryan Construction, Inc. crews raised it in place to connect the original structure to the new 15,000 square foot wing.
“The Hutchinson Center allows people from this region to gain access to achieve what they need and deserve: the educational and related programs which open the doors to a brighter future,” UMaine President Robert Kennedy said recently.
The new wing will double the center’s classroom space and will include high-tech space to allow students to study in one of the university’s most popular academic programs, New Media. The new facility will also include two science labs and space for art classes. Fully equipped science laboratories will allow the center to offer nursing programs while enabling students to fulfill undergraduate science requirements, such as pre-med and pre-engineering courses, at the Hutchinson Center. The art room will expand the possibilities for creative work that is limited in the existing space. All new classrooms are designed for multiple uses, including the new conference center space that will be available to the community, according to UMaine Division of Lifelong Learning Dean Robert White.
The expansion is a $4 million project. Two million dollars will be raised through revenue bonds to be funded from Hutchinson Center income. Thanks to generous gifts from businesses, individuals and foundations, the campaign has currently raised over $1.5 million of its $2 million private fundraising goal. At this morning’s event, campaign co-chairs Judy Stein and Jim Patterson thanked donors and appealed to the private sector for continued help to push the campaign goal over the finish line by year end. The new facility is expected to open int he fall of 2009.
Many naming opportunities are still available for donors. Two newly introduced programs allow donors to “Name a Seat” in the popular Hutchinson Center Auditorium or name bricks for the planned new brick walk. For information, call McCullough at(207) 338-8000.