UMaine Launches Hutchinson Center Expansion Campaign
Contact: Joe Carr at (207) 581-3571
BELFAST, Me. — A campaign to raise $2 million in matching funds for the University of Maine’s Frederick E. Hutchinson Center, in Belfast, was announced today by UMaine President Robert Kennedy. Combined with a $2 million bond to be repaid from future tuition revenue, the money will be used to implement a plan the University of Maine System Board of Trustees approved in May. The expansion is designed to meet the center’s pressing need for additional space after tremendous growth since opening its doors in 2000.
The Hutchinson Center was established by UMaine as a public/private partnership in conjunction with MBNA. Bank of America donated the building and grounds to UMaine in June 2006.
The theme for the expansion campaign, “Aspirations, Access and Achievement,” is consistent with the center’s commitment to meeting the needs of students and employers in the Mid-Coast area through a student-centered, individualized approach.
Earlier this year, the New England Board of Higher Education, a Congressionally authorized agency promoting educational opportunities and services and fostering economic development, recognized the Hutchinson Center’s achievements with its prestigious annual Robert J. McKenna Award for Program Excellence.
The Hutchinson Center expansion project is part of the University of Maine’s $150 million comprehensive campaign, through which more than $60 million has been raised to date.
The 15,000-square-foot expansion on the 11-acre campus will effectively double the classroom space. The addition will include science labs, multi-purpose classrooms and a multimedia broadcast and computing center as well as conference and faculty office areas. The educational benefits to students will include new offerings in allied health sciences, international affairs, the arts, hospitality and management.
A campaign volunteer leadership team has been working since late spring to prepare campaign materials, set up a network of volunteers based in the Mid-Coast and explore lead campaign gifts.
For information about the Hutchinson Center campaign and naming/memorial opportunities available, or to learn more about the Hutchinson Center itself, call Cathy Bradbury at (207) 338-8000, browse the website at www.hutchinsoncenter.umaine.edu or visit the center in person.