BRUNSWICK – Bowdoin College has launched a campaign to raise $250 million over five years in what the college calls the largest fundraising initiative in Maine history.

The effort, called “The Bowdoin Campaign,” will go toward financial aid, academic and student affairs and building projects, the college’s board of trustees and President Barry Mills announced Friday.

“This campaign is a bold effort that will ensure the pre-eminence of Bowdoin College into the future while underscoring our conviction that a liberal arts education is the very best way to shape informed and responsible citizens of our society and the world,” Mills said.

The campaign began its “quiet phase” on July 1, 2004 and has already raised $147 million toward the goal, college officials said. The campaign will conclude on June 30, 2009.

This will mark the school’s 17th major capital campaign since Bowdoin was founded in 1794. The last campaign, which concluded in 2000, raised $136 million.

Of the $250 million in the campaign, $76.5 million is targeted for financial aid, $69.5 million for academic affairs, $43.1 million for annual giving, $32.7 million for student affairs and $28.1 million for building projects.

Some of the specific projects include $30 million to endow new faculty positions, $15.1 million for a recital hall, $15 million for a new hockey rink, $10 million for an Institute for Coastal Studies and $8 million for renovations to the Walker Art Building.