Board approves USM $25M capital campaign

LEWISTON – University of Maine System trustees gave the go-ahead Monday to the University of Southern Maine to proceed with a $25 million fund-raising campaign, the largest in the school’s history.

Funds raised during the two-year campaign would come from both private and public sources, with about $7 million already pledged or received, USM President Richard Pattenaude told the board.

The proceeds would be used to complete existing projects such as construction of a new home for USM’s Muskie School of Public Service, its School of Applied Science, Engineering and Technology, and the Abromson Community Education Center.

The capital campaign also includes the creation of a university commons on the Portland campus.

“This capital campaign will help ensure that the university has the physical capacity to increase access to high-quality education,” Pattenaude said. “It will establish the Portland campus as USM’s ‘hub’ of its multicampus university.”

Trustees also approved the $2 million purchase and renovation of a 40-year-old industrial building next to USM’s Lewiston-Auburn College.

Funding for the college’s expansion was included last year in a voter-approved bond proposal.