The old warehouses that mar the Portland campus between Glickman Library and the Abromson Center will be torn down beginning Monday and transformed into the University Commons, a new building, promenade and plaza that Craig Hutchinson, vice president of student and university life, describes as “the gateway to campus for the community.”
Hutchinson said the Abromson Center, the USM Parking Garage and the Alumni Skywalk over Bedford Street marked the very beginnings of the changes on campus, all part of the University Commons project and funded by Transforming USM: the Capital Campaign, a project initiated in April 2005.
Elizabeth Shorr, vice president of University Advancement and Planning, spearheaded the fundraising campaign, gathering donations from alumni and other friends of USM.
“In the beginning,” said Shorr, “there were many iterations (for the project’s name).When you look at the layout of the Commons, there are a lot of ‘common’ spaces there where a lot of students will be. There will be walkways and gathering places.”
Other future projects, still in the conceptual stage include a 450-500 bed student residence located between the upcoming Wishcamper Center/OLLI Headquarters and I-295, and a new student center to replace Woodbury Campus Center, and would centralize most student organizations and services.
To date, the university has accumulated $20 million of the $25 million needed to build the complex, which is “considered to be the most ambitious project on campus to date,” according to Bob Caswell, executive director of the Office of Public Affairs.
According to Chief Finance Officer Sam Andrews, the cost for construction comes entirely from the capital campaign of donated money and not any part of the university’s operating budget, which is built on tuition, fees, and state appropriation.
Construction for the University Commons will begin with site preparation and demolition Monday at the Steego Building, the former offices for the campus police, university mail services and the printing office, and the recently acquired Portland Plastic Pipe Company, which the university purchased in March 2005 using $1.95M from the capital campaign. A groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for Nov. 15 at 10:30 a.m. in front of the Steego Building. The police offices are currently in the Sullivan Gym (see story on page 2), and the USM Mail Services was moved to Forest Avenue in October.
The Commons will consist of three major components: A building with two sections, along with a plaza and landscaped walkways that will be called the Promenade. The walkway will connect the campus buildings together.
The new Commons building will be located where Steego and Portland Plastic Pipe now stand. One part, the Wishcamper Center, will house the USM Muskie School of Public Service. It is named after Portland community leaders Joe and Carol Wishcamper, major contributors of the campaign. The Muskie School offers graduate degrees in community planning, policy planning, as well as multiple research centers for health and social services.
The other section of the building will be dedicated to the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI), which serves older college students. OLLI’s new site will house the local Osher Institute, the Maine Senior College Network and the national headquarters for all Osher Institutes. The new space will combine OLLIs on both campuses and provide for a full week of classes instead of just Fridays, as they are schedule now.
Another change will be an expansion of the Osher Map Library and Smith Center for Cartographic Education, currently located on the first floor of Glickman Library. The university will take advantage of the additional construction to re-orient the front entrance of the library to face the campus instead of Forest Avenue.
Hutchinson warned, “There’ll be some inconvenience, some dust and some need for deliberate planning on the part of faculty and student alike,” during construction. Public Affairs associate Judie O’Malley said the safe pathways would be provided with barricades during construction, and students and faculty will still have access to the parking garage. u