ORONO – A celebration and ribbon cutting marking the opening of Buchanan Alumni House is set for 2 p.m. Friday, May 31, at the facility on College Avenue at the University of Maine. All alumni and friends of the university are welcome to attend.

The $7.3 million Buchanan Alumni House, named in honor of Dr. Robert D. Buchanan, Class of 1944, is the result of the largest private fund-raising campaign in UMaine history. The UMaine Alumni Association and the University of Maine Foundation spearheaded the project and will be housed in the new facility.

The ceremonies will include remarks by Buchanan, President Peter S. Hoff, and Judge William Treat, among others. The ribbon cutting will be performed by Buchanan and his wife, Pearlee; Amos Orcutt, president and CEO of the University of Maine Foundation; and Jeffery Mills, president and CEO of the Alumni Association and UMaine’s vice president for advancement.

“The Buchanan Alumni House will be a multi-purpose facility that will truly be a new front door for the University of Maine,” Mills said. “It will be a place that our alumni can call home when they return to campus, and it will provide attractive, useful space for any number of campus activities and events.”

Buchanan, a first-generation college student who grew up in Caribou and had success as a dentist before retiring in California, contributed $1 million to the project. Other UMaine alumni and friends donated thousands of gifts and pledges that totaled more than $7 million.

“The response of our alumni to our plan to construct this facility has been remarkable, but that’s not surprising,” Mills said. “It’s a reflection of the commitment that has been a cornerstone of this university’s success for decades. Our alumni have achieved great successes and they are enthusiastic about contributing to the future of their alma mater.”

The 32,000-square-foot facility will be home to the Alumni Association, the University of Maine Foundation, UMaine’s Visitor Center and Leadership Hall, which features exhibits profiling UMaine’s most accomplished and distinguished alumni.

Buchanan Alumni House is also equipped with large, open areas to accommodate receptions and other events, including the McIntire Maine Event Room, which opens out onto a covered porch and a courtyard and seats 125.

The University of Maine Foundation will move from Bangor to Buchanan Alumni House on June 13, and the Alumni Association will move in June 17. The facility will be fully operational by July 1.

Designed by the Bangor-based WBRC Architects/Engineers, the building incorporates features from other structures on campus, such as a red brick exterior, arches and roof designs. The general contractor was Nickerson & O’Day Inc. of Brewer.

For more information, contact Mills at 581-2586, or Bob Potts of the Alumni Association at 581-1149.