The University of Maine now plans to sell its Hutchinson Center building in Belfast for $3 million to nonprofit Waldo Community Action Partners, a change from the first round of bidding when the university system selected an evangelical church.
The university announced the decision Friday morning after Waldo Community Action Partners, Calvary Chapel Belfast and Future of the Hutchinson Center Steering Committee all submitted bids to purchase the building.
The same three groups had submitted proposals this past summer and in August, UMaine announced the church as the winner. But it rescinded the offer shortly after, citing an error in the bid evaluation criteria.
When the bidding process reopened in October, the university received bids from the same three parties, and Waldo CAP increased its bid since the first offer.
The organization offered $3.06 million for the property, which was appraised at $2.52 million. The Future of the Hutchinson Center Steering Committee offered $1.8 million and Calvary Chapel Belfast bid $1.1 million, the university said.
All three bidders agreed to lease part of the building — which hosts a major network hub for the university system as well as public schools, libraries and other institutions — back to the university for five years at no cost.
The status of that hub, called Networkmaine, was the problem with the original evaluation criteria. The university said it didn’t properly account for the potential cost savings of keeping the Networkmaine infrastructure in its current location.
In the latest round, the university said it used an objective scoring system that considered value, real estate contingencies and the hub to evaluate the bids. The bid were scored by a six-person team. The bidders with the two lower-scoring offers can now appeal the decision in writing within five business days.
The new winner of the Hutchinson Center, Waldo Community Action Partners, is a nonprofit focused on addressing poverty and supporting low-income Waldo County residents. President Donna Kelley told the Press Herald that the center would become a permanent home for the organization, which currently operates out of a leased space.
“Should we be successful, we would plan on a renovation to prepare the facility to meet our needs going forward,” she said. “We are heading into our 60th year serving our community, and it would be nice to have a home of our own.”
The announcement of Calvary Chapel as the original winner of the center was met with community criticism, and both of the other bidders filed appeals.
The center was gifted to UMaine in 2007 by Bank of America with no conditions. It has served as a community hub, where Belfast residents took courses, watched films or attended conferences. But declining enrollment and increasing operating costs led the university to seek a buyer. The center hasn’t hosted any in-person classes for degree-seeking students since 2020, the university said.
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