When Rajiv Shah, production manager for the opera “Porgy and Bess,” arrived this fall at the Maine Center for the Arts in Orono, he had to leave part of the touring company’s set in a van in the parking lot. “Because this is an opera,” said Shah, “it’s no big deal. The biggest deal for an opera is how it sounds. For a musical, it would affect every technical aspect.”

Still, Shah says the theatrical experience is diminished – even if the audience doesn’t know the difference – when some of the scenery is eliminated. In the case of “Porgy and Bess,” the stage was not deep enough for the set pieces, and the winches for the theater’s fly system, the area above the stage that houses scenery, were too short. Two major props – wagons – were never even considered. Four out of the five backdrops, or large scenic walls, remained in the van.

“When I see shows coming with three tractor-trailers, I tell them right away just to leave two of them unpacked,” said MCA technical director Jeffrey Richards. “We can put on any show in this house. But you’re just not going to get it all. The question is will you get 15 percent, 20 percent. We’re so far behind in today’s technology that on a scale of 1 to 10, I’d give the Maine Center a 4.”

Opened in 1986, and intended as a premiere performing arts center and a cultural anchor for the University of Maine, MCA hosts more than 150 events a year. Most are world-class or professional touring performances of dance, theater, classical music and pop culture.

“There are several things the Maine Center for the Arts does for those of us who live in eastern and northern Maine,” said Bob Bowman, a musician and marine mammal expert who lives on Mount Desert Island. “It brings culture from a national and world scale to a rural and remote area of the world. It gives us an opportunity to see things that we’d have to travel to Boston or beyond to see. Although a lot of other facilities serve a similar role, they aren’t able to bring the same type of entertainment and performances because the infrastructure can’t handle it. I don’t want to get grand and say it’s a world-class facility. But for us, it is.”

A few times a year, Bowman, who attended UM in the 1970s, travels 50 miles to see shows at the MCA. Others regularly come from as far away as Aroostook, Knox and Piscataquis counties.

MCA’s Hutchins Concert Hall is also the venue for the Bangor Symphony’s classical and holiday concerts. Various university departments use the facility for conferences, lectures and performances. The MCA complex also houses the Hudson Museum’s archaeological collections, which are used for teaching and exhibitions.

Now, nearly two decades after opening, MCA is seeking to better fulfill and broaden its cultural role through a $10.2 million renovation of its building that could begin in 2007. Earlier this year, the UM board of trustees endorsed redesign plans by the New York architectural firm Cooper, Robertson & Partners.

John Patches, executive director at MCA, says the present building’s flaws, the rising costs of importing performances and other factors have prevented his organization from reaching its full cultural and commercial potential. Its official mission is to educate, expose and engage the community in cultural dialogue. Over the course of a year, more than 90,000 ticket holders may pass through MCA doors. That compares with more than 250,000 people annually at the downtown Bangor Auditorium, where patrons are more likely to see basketball games and country music concerts than a cutting-edge dance company or an all-Bartok chamber music concert.

“In my first season here, I began to think about the inadequacy of the building,” said Patches. “The American Ballet Theatre was here, and the wing space and stage depth were totally wrong. Students were catching dancers as they leapt into the wings.”

That first season, Patches also was thinking about the future. He postponed an earlier renovation plan in favor of organizing the center’s first board of directors and eventually developed a Friends group to help raise money for and awareness about the building, its faults and potential. Then, in 2000, he announced a $9 million renovation project for both the great hall and the museum.

In 2002, although there was talk about breaking ground, not enough private money had been raised to begin the project. Nevertheless, Patches asked a building committee to choose an architectural firm, and he began quietly raising money for the project. To date, he has $3.7 million and is hoping to garner another $2.5 million from a bond referendum to meet Americans With Disabilities Act requirements.The rest he hopes to raise through private donations.

Once again, the building is back in the university spotlight. Robert Kennedy, UM’s interim president, recently announced that MCA is a top priority for fund raising and development. “Part of our desire for this renovation is the growth opportunity intellectually, culturally, socially” said Kennedy. “I’m quite passionate about the Maine Center.”

Over the years, efforts have been made to identify the MCA as an arts center – a metal bear paw sculpture on the southern side, tracks of mirrors on the outside beams, a large marquee – but the project’s proponents say the red bricks give the building more of a bunker feel.

“The first time I ever saw the place, I thought it was a mausoleum,” said Robert Marville, who lives in Blue Hill and is on MCA’s board of directors. “I thought: This is an offensive building.”

Since its construction, the MCA complex has been best suited for two types of presentations: acoustic concerts, such as symphony orchestras, and lectures. But Bangor architect Eaton Tarbell, who designed the building, could not have predicted the importance or popularity that touring Broadway shows would have by the end of the 20th century.

In 1990, ADA passed, setting federal standards for accessibility in all public buildings. Currently, the MCA does not adequately meet those codes. The continental seating, with no central aisles, has been criticized as everything from inconvenient to dangerous – not to mention that there is no space for wheelchairs.

In addition, the Hudson Museum, which has one of the finest pre-Colombian collections in the country, has never had its own identity, in part because of the way it is scattered throughout what most consider the corridors of a performing arts space.

That very combination of museum and performance hall was one of the draws for Cooper, Robertson, which was chosen from a pool of about 20 applicants. Other work by the firm includes the temporary space in Queens, N.Y., for the Museum of Modern Art while the Manhattan location underwent construction, the Charleston Visitor Center, and the Gettysburg National Military Park museum and visitor center in Pennsylvania.

Scott Newman, a partner at Cooper, Robertson, was the chief designer for the MoMA project, for which he won the American Institute of Architects 2004 New York State Design Award for Excellence. He is also the lead architect for the Orono project.

“We’re deeply interested in cultural institutions of all kinds, sizes and subject matters,” said Newman. “We do a lot of museum and performing arts center work. That these two are combined in one building is intriguing.”

The new MCA building design reflects Newman’s wish to open the space. An enhanced entry with a vaulted glass atrium has a jewel-like quality, revealing the internal workings of the building. Beyond the glass, passers-by will be able to view digitally projected panels depicting events in the hall and at the museum. The facade will give a view to activities on all three levels, enticing visitors to enter.

“It’s very closed, and there is no indication outside of what happens inside,” said Newman, referring to the present complex. “That makes it less inviting and diminishes the goal of being a signature facility.”

The redesign will feature a larger stage, increased fly tower, new draperies, rigging, lighting and sound systems. But the renovated building will not just be about performances and exhibitions. A cafe, conference rooms, newly designed reception area, improved restrooms and an expanded gift shop are additional attractions. The hope is to make the MCA and Hudson Museum clear destination spots for arts, culture, business meetings, classes, holiday shopping or coffee.

It’s not only a new look but also a new outlook for a building whose regality has been off-putting to some. The red carpeting, dark wood panels, lack of natural light and confusing pathways are less than welcoming to those unaccustomed to concert hall formality. The new design will strip away the stuffiness of the heavy colors and weighty elements.

“The design is not opulent,” said Newman. “It’s straightforward. It’s meant to be dignified and accessible. We think a cultural institution should be uplifting.”

Beyond that, it should work.

“People have come to expect certain things as a visitor experience,” said Newman. “They want clear circulation, good sight lines, good acoustics, sufficient bathrooms. It’s mundane but very important. They want comfort and accessible drop-off spots, especially in Maine where the weather is a big factor. The architectural expression should coordinate with this mission.”

Equally important, said Newman, is the Hudson Museum as its own entity.

“As a person going to a concert or play, you can’t pass through and interpret this material,” said Newman. “You can’t have an intimate relationship with the material. We were blown away by the collection and very impressed by the care of the collection. [After the renovation] the museum will be able to exhibit in museum-quality space with conditions that will not only help interpret the collections but preserve them in a safer, more secure way.”

The MCA board of directors has stepped up efforts to raise money, develop audiences and raise awareness about the two institutions housed in the structure. Kassie Stevens Walker, a professional fund-raiser, has been hired, and other staff members are dreaming of the days ahead when the sound and lighting systems will be upgraded, the box office expanded, the light let in.

“Looking into the crystal ball as well as anyone can for a cultural center such as this,” Patches said, “I would say that this renovation, by giving integrity to the museum and its collection and the increased ability to share it with students and the public, will put us in good stead for many, many decades.”