Waldo Community Action Partners, the group that recently won the right to purchase the Hutchinson Center in Belfast from the University of Maine System, may leave some of the building open as a community center if the deal goes through.
That’s noteworthy because the UMaine System initially had offered to sell the building to a church, Calvary Chapel Belfast, but many area residents spoke out against the decision, with some arguing that the Hutchinson Center should remain a public community resource.
Ultimately, the system rescinded the offer to sell the center to Calvary Chapel Belfast, after it discovered a deficiency in the criteria used to evaluate the first round of proposals.
Waldo CAP is a Belfast-based nonprofit organization that offers a variety of services targeted to lower income residents and families, including case management, food and heating assistance, early childhood education and transportation.
The group made two different proposals to buy the Hutchinson Center, offering $1 million to buy the facility during the first round of proposals earlier this year, and then offered $3.06 million during the second round. The UMaine System accepted that offer, which is more than double what the two other bidders had offered.
Although the bidding has finished, the appeals process will be open for five days to allow the two other bidders time to appeal.
Monica Pettengill, development director for Waldo CAP, declined to discuss the organization’s intended uses for the building until the appeals process is over.
But some details about Waldo CAP’s potential plans can be found in its first application to buy the Hutchinson Center.
In the organization’s earlier proposal for the 30,515-square-foot facility on Route 3, CEO Donna Kelley said the group planned, in part, to relocate some of its administrative and programming functions there. Right now, it rents space in the Belfast Center, a commercial office building.
“Next year we are entering our 60th year and have never had a formal home of our own,” Kelley wrote.
Additionally, Kelley said that the group hopes to “ensure access to the community for a community center, which Waldo County has need for. We work collaboratively with many local partners already, so this is a [natural] fit for us.”
Calvary Chapel Belfast offered $1.1 million, while the third bidder, a partnership of the Future of the Hutchinson Center Steering Committee and Waterfall Arts, offered $1.8 million.
