UMS trustees back $44M building renovation bond

BANGOR – The University of Maine System board of trustees Thursday endorsed a $44 million bond package focusing on renovating older buildings on each of the system’s seven campuses.

The plan, which will go to the Legislature, includes $17.2 million to renovate a classroom building on the University of Southern Maine’s Gorham campus. Of that amount $2 million is earmarked for the library located in the building.

Citing the USM project, members of the University of Maine Faculty Senate recently protested that the bond package contains nothing for Fogler Library, which has needed work for years.

They asked UMS Chancellor Joseph Westphal to reconsider his proposal because Fogler is “the state’s research library … located on the campus where 90 percent of all research for the system is done.”

During Thursday’s trustee meeting, Westphal emphasized his commitment to improving Fogler Library.

In an interview, he said he has asked UM’s President Peter Hoff to submit a proposal on what needs to be done to the building “and to talk about how to do it with a combination of private and public funds.”

The chancellor said he wants administrators to work with faculty to decide “what purpose they think the library should serve” as well as its acquisition and technology needs.

“It’s a very important project and I’m committed to putting my time and energy to get it done. But we’re going to do it right,” the chancellor said. “It could be a bigger project than people think and I want to do it right.”

Improvements to USM’s Bailey Hall “are not being done as a preference over Fogler Library … ” trustee chairman James Mullen said during the meeting. “We need to understand that our focus has to be on priority projects that can be completed. For too long we have patched things up for lack of sufficient funds.”

“The Fogler Library is the key research library for the system and for the state. There are enormous needs there and the magnitude of that project is such that it will be tackled separately, but appropriately.”

Also included in the bond package is:

. $9 million to renovate UM’s Holmes and Coburn halls.

. $1 million to renovate USM’s Payson Smith, Masterton and Luther Bonney buildings.

. $1.3 million to renovate and expand Jewett Hall at the University of Maine at Augusta and $600,000 for University College of Bangor library relocation.

. $1 million to renovate Franklin and $2.5 million to renovate Preble and Ricker halls at the University of Maine at Farmington.

. $700,000 to renovate the library and $500,000 to renovate Fox Auditorium at the University of Maine at Fort Kent.

. $3 million to renovate the science building at the University of Maine at Machias.

. $4.5 million to renovate Folsom and Pullen halls and $500,000 to renovate the library at the University of Maine at Presque Isle.

. $2.2 million for systemwide technology upgrades.