Crossland Hall Removal
Updated on January 28, 2026
Crossland Hall will be removed in 2026 as part of UMaine’s long-term north campus infrastructure improvement strategy and our commitment to providing students, faculty, staff, and community partners with spaces that elevate academic and research excellence. The 11,200-square-foot building in which UMaine’s Franco-American Centre has been housed faces $10 million in deferred maintenance and unfunded modernization needs. Due to the extensive cost of renovations and modernization, along with the building’s overall condition, the university has deemed Crossland unsuitable for renovation. Rather than invest significant resources into this aged and inaccessible facility, UMaine will provide the Centre with a more modern, renovated space by relocating it to a new and improved home. This new space will reinforce the UMaine’s longstanding commitment to supporting Franco-American programs and honor the legacy and ongoing contributions of Franco-Americans to the state of Maine.
The Centre will temporarily relocate to the first floor of Libby Hall during the 2026 Spring Semester to ensure continuity of programming. In 2027, the Centre will move into a dedicated, renovated space in what is currently the Environmental Sciences Laboratory (ESL) building. The renovation investment by the university will be approximately $550,000 to meet the specific needs identified by Centre stakeholders. Preceding this move, the ESL’s current occupants, the Spruce Budworm Lab, will move to a renovated space in Deering Hall’s fourth floor. Archival experts from the UMaine Fogler Library will oversee the move of the Centre’s historical collections.
Project Benefits:
To honor the legacy of Crossland Hall, the University is working to identify items for preservation from the building for utilization in the renovated ESL space. A historical review determined the demolition does not affect protected historic properties.
This project aligns with UMaine’s broader goals to modernize facilities and improve parking and accessibility for faculty, staff, students, and visitors.
Detailed information regarding the transition and timeline is available below.
Contact:
Gabriel Paquette, Interim Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost
gabriel.paquette@maine.edu
Modern, accessible space supporting future growth
Stability trhough transition
Honoring Crossland Hall legacy while preparing for the future
Conceptual options being considered for the future design of the renovated ESL building.
Building Information
2024 Gordian building study findings:
Goridan is a contracted third-party firm who provides the University of Maine System with annual facility condition updates.
The 2024 Gordian building annual study found that the building’s net asset value is 0%, indicating it has reached the end of its useful life. The estimated replacement value is approximately $3.7 million, with a total construction need of about $4.5 million for a like-for-like replacement. When accounting for all associated project costs, the total estimated like-for-like project cost is approximately $6.4 million, while a modernization project (i.e. to bring the building up to modern standards) is estimated to be roughly $10 million. Additional building concerns include the discovery of mold, a block and dirt foundation, limited ADA accessibility, and other concerns which further contribute to the building’s deteriorated condition and replacement need.
Crossland Hall timeline and considerations (2008-2025):
Subject to change as design and construction timelines are not finalized.
While the Franco-American Centre will be relocated during the 2025-26 winter break and some minor site preparation work may be undertaken, no construction activity will occur until after the Trustees’ final approval.
The rapid increase in the spruce budworm population in the Northeast has driven increased demand for UMaine Spruce Budworm Lab’s testing services, which can no longer be accommodated within the current space.
Since 2024, the Dean of the College of Earth, Life, and Health Sciences and the Director of the Spruce Budworm Lab have been actively exploring strategies to expand and enhance the lab’s capacity through relocation to a purpose-built space elsewhere on the Orono campus. In November 2025, U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King secured $600,000 in Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) for this project and UMaine is committed to matching this amount for a total investment of at least $1.2 million in the Spruce Budworm Lab and Maine’s future forest health. A second CDS award for additional lab equipment is pending.
Deering Hall was selected as the Spruce Budworm Lab’s ideal future home because it already houses the Analytical Lab and Maine Soil Testing (ALMST) facility, which is currently undergoing major modernization and expansion funded by a significant FY24 CDS award also secured by Sens. Collins and King. As part of that federally funded project, the ALMST will vacate space that is well-suited for the SBL due to its size, fume hood capacity, and proximity to other relevant academic programs, research labs, and student and public services.
Beyond an optimized research layout that will improve processing efficiency, the planned Deering Hall location will increase the Spruce Budworm Lab’s functional footprint from 2,000 to 3,175 square feet, with additional space dedicated to a log-rearing facility being scoped nearby.
Co-locating these two essential labs in Deering Hall will create a Forest Health Hub, with “canopy to soil” testing services under one roof, with a common sample drop-off area designed to improve customer service. Equally important to our learner-centered R1 institution is that having the Spruce Budworm Lab in Deering Hall — which hosts relevant science classes and the College of Earth, Life, and Health Sciences’ academic support center — will allow better integration of soil and forest health education, research, and service across UMaine, including through expanded lab capacity for students to engage in meaningful, hands-on discovery.
Throughout the university’s careful planning, continuity of the Spruce Budworm Lab’s operations has been central. UMaine has already directly invested in interim infrastructure improvements to ensure uninterrupted service until the relocation moves forward in summer 2027, and all parties will be deliberate in sequencing work to avoid disruption to monitoring, testing, and stakeholder services.
The planning process for this project was accelerated in May 2025, prompted by the expansion of the Shawn Walsh Hockey Center and Alfond Arena and the upcoming construction of Morse Arena—developments that will displace approximately 200 heavily used parking spaces.
Parking Lot Updates
These improvements address one of the most pressing concerns on the north side of campus, where parking is in especially high demand.
The improved layout will:
Please see the Parking Lots & Roadway Projects section of this website for additional details and renderings.
Environmental Sciences Laboratory (ESL)
Deferred maintenance need (like-for-like): $376,744
Replacement value: $2,377,070
Modernization estimate: $889,961
Net Asset Value: 84%
Libby Hall
Deferred maintenance need (like-for-like): $11,372,756
Replacement value: $10,341,689
Modernization estimate: $22,031,119
Spruce Budworm Lab (SBL)
Recent investments total $102,742.47*
* included $25,000 in grant-funded equipment upgrades.
Planned relocation and renovation budget totals $1.2 million*
*Supported by a $600,000 CDS federal grant and a $600,000 university match.