Students on the Gorham campus all have to venture into Bailey Hall for class, business, or just to hang out. A few may even go into its library to study. Being the largest building in the University of Maine system, Bailey Hall is hard to avoid.
Undeniably, however, the building has seen better days–days when its virgin tile had yet to experience the pitter-patter of students’ feet running to class, and days when that blue-greenish exterior paneling was the hippest thing around.
The building’s construction was completed in the late 1950s. It has seen it’s fair share of use since then, and a project has just been started to update the hall to a more comfortable, efficient learning environment.
David Early, executive director of Facilities Management, said the University has contracted a group to research the use and needs of the current learning facility. The University will rely on the findings to decide what parts of Bailey Hall need to be updated.
“Based on their report to date, the top priorities in the renovation of the building appear to be thermal comfort, air quality, lighting, and furniture systems,” Early said.
The research has yielded a chart of approximately 25 items in the hall that are to be changed. Some of the higher priorities on the list, such as thermal comfort and air quality, are believed to be basic needs in a learning environment.
“We thought of those items as ones that affect the ability to learn,” said Early. “You can’t learn if you’re not comfortable,” he continued. Early cited the secondary priorities on the list as items that affect the interactions between people in the building.
“We are looking at having the entire report finalized by the end of March,” Early said. The actual renovations could take much longer.
The board of trustees has approved the project, making it eligible to go to the governor’s office and the legislature. “The goal is to have this project be on a referendum to be approved by the voters,” Early said. The vote would take place in November. “So the project is real, but it hasn’t been funded yet,” said Early. “We have been trying to get funding for Bailey Hall for many years now.”
The request for the renovations is in the ballpark of 17 million dollars. When the funding is granted, whether by the end of the year or much later, the construction will be done in phases.
Sections of Bailey Hall will be closed while they are renovated so that the building will still be usable. Possible renovations include a library extension with an elevator and possibly another lecture room modeled after Room 10. Even after the renovations are funded, the construction will take approximately 18 months to finish. Until then, the current research project will find direction for the Bailey Hall renovation project.
Andrew Dolby can be contacted at [email protected]