TRENTON – The transfer of a parcel of land expected to be developed into a bus depot and national park welcome center has been completed, according to officials.

Friends of Acadia, which on Dec. 20 acquired a 369-acre property on Route 3, sold 151 acres of the land to Maine Department of Transportation on Dec. 27, according to a press release from the Friends group.

The land acquired by DOT is to be developed into a storage, maintenance and intermodal transportation facility for the Island Explorer bus system, which uses propane-powered buses to provide free transportation on Mount Desert Island during the summer tourist season. Besides helping to ease seasonal congestion and vehicle pollution on MDI, state and federal officials hope eventually to use the property as a new welcome center for Acadia National Park.

FOA bought the property from John Smithgall and Nacoochee Corp. for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition was funded by FOA donors T.A. Cox, Butler Conservation Fund, Shelby Cullom Davis Foundation, Thomas H. Maren Foundation, and Yawkee Foundation.

“We are grateful to our farsighted donors and partners for making this acquisition possible,” FOA President Marla O’Byrne said in a prepared statement. “We are delighted to take this substantial step forward to developing the Acadia Gateway Center.”

The Friends group will retain ownership of the property’s remaining 218 acres for now but hopes eventually to sell or donate the land to a buyer who will protect it from further development, according to the release.