Unity Foundation Grant to Support Hutchinson Center Expansion
Contact: Joe Carr at (207) 581-3571
BELFAST — A $200,000 Unity Foundation challenge grant will provide valuable support for the University of Maine’s planned Hutchinson Center expansion.
The university announced in August a campaign to raise $2 million in private funds to help create a 15,000 square foot addition at the Belfast facility. The new wing will double classroom space at the Hutchinson Center, while adding science labs and other facilities critical to the center’s future as UMaine’s primary educational and outreach connection point with the people of midcoast Maine.
“We are grateful for this generous gift, and we are most grateful that the Unity Foundation sees the value in this exciting project,” says Barbara Beers, UMaine’s vice president for development. “The Unity Foundation has a remarkable track record of supporting important community causes, and the foundation’s support helps us take a meaningful step toward reaching our goal of an expanded Hutchinson Center.”
The Unity Foundation grant requires UMaine to match the $200,000 by raising the same amount from other sources.
The late Bert Clifford established the Unity Foundation in 2000, to support nonprofit organizations “to fulfill their missions to arts/culture/ recreation, community/economic development, education, the environment, and youth.”
The project’s total price tag is $4 million, with the balance set to come from a bond to be repaid through future revenue generated through the center’s expanded activities. A campaign volunteer committee, led by Judy Stein and retired Hutchinson Center Director James Patterson, has been working on private fundraising for several months. The Hutchinson Center private fundraising effort is part of Campaign Maine, the university’s six-year, $150 million comprehensive campaign.
Through a partnership with MBNA, UMaine opened the Hutchinson Center in 2000. Bank of America donated the building and grounds to UMaine in June 2006.
“The Hutchinson Center continues to be a remarkable success story,” says Robert White, UMaine associate provost and dean of its Division of Lifelong Learning. “To a large extent, this success is attributable to the tremendous support of people in the midcoast communities who have embraced the opportunities that derive from the University of Maine’s presence and all the Hutchinson Center brings to the Belfast area. This Unity Foundation grant will help continue the fundraising momentum and will help assure the Hutchinson Center’s continued growth and dynamic involvement in the continued development of Maine’s midcoast region.”