PRESQUE ISLE – University officials have hired a local man known for his work with recreation programs to help manage Gentile Hall, the $9 million health and physical education complex opening Jan. 21.

Charles Bonin, vice president for administration and finance at the University of Maine at Presque Isle, announced Thursday that the university has hired Dick Gardiner, who now serves as director of the Presque Isle Recreation and Parks Department, to serve as Gentile Hall associate director.

“He was the one the committee recommended,” Bonin said. “He was the most qualified candidate, and he fit the needs of that position.”

Bonin said Gardiner was one of several candidates who applied for the position, one of an unspecified number who will oversee building operations. Bonin said President Karl Burgher is working to put the rest of the team together.

Gardiner said Thursday that he is thrilled to join the university’s staff, though he said he’ll miss the city department, where he has worked for almost 21 years.

“One of the hardest things about leaving is that the staff and co-workers in the city have been great. They’ve been very supportive,” Gardiner said. “I’ve made a lot of good friends, and the city has always been supportive of our programs. They’ve treated us very well. Presque Isle doesn’t lack for recreation activities for children and adults. That will be missed.”

Gardiner served as director of the city’s recreation department for three years and as programmer there for 17 years before that, scheduling activities and programs throughout the city and at the pool. Before that, he served at the recreation department in Mars Hill for four years. A city native, Gardiner graduated from Presque Isle High School in 1977 and from the University of Maine at Presque Isle in 1981 with a bachelor’s degree in health, physical education and recreation.

In his new position, Gardiner will oversee activities at Gentile Hall, a 45,000-square-foot facility with a 25-yard pool, 16-meter track, multipurpose courts, fitness center and climbing wall, and classroom and laboratory space

He said his work would be similar to what he did as a programmer for the recreation department.

“That was one reason it [the job] enticed me,” he said. “It gets me back into something I really like to do.”

Gardiner said his biggest challenges coming into the job are to get a balanced schedule in place for the building – which he said he sees as a complement to what is already in the community – and to “get as many people through the facility as possible.”

“At the recent open house, it was the first time a lot of students had been inside the building, and you could really sense their excitement,” Gardiner said. “I hope the community as well takes advantage [of the building]. … My job is to be that link to the community and make them feel comfortable to come up and use it.”

Gardiner officially will start work Jan. 3.