The oldest building on UMaine’s campus is slated for demolition later this year following approval from the University of Maine System Board of Trustees.
The Board of Trustees approved the demolition of Crossland Hall despite objections over several months from students, alumni and community members. The demolition is part of a larger improvement plan for the north part of the University of Maine campus that includes the construction of Morse Arena, UMaine’s new basketball arena.
Crossland Hall was brought forward for demolition as part of a long-term campus modernization plan due to $10 million in the building’s deferred maintenance costs and the need for more parking space on campus. The approved plan places 200 parking spaces in the area of the 192-year-old building. These spots will be used while other parking is taken up with construction of the new basketball arena.
Since demolition plans were revealed last fall and first reported by UMaine’s student newspaper, The Maine Campus, students, alumni and local officials have brought concerns to the university about the oldest building being demolished and the Franco-American Centre being moved.
The issue has brought more attention than anything else in the past five years, board member Roger Katz said.
The hall’s demolition has been talked about since 2018, board members said. Crossland is one of more than 300 UMaine buildings with deferred maintenance costs of up to $1.1 billion, according to spokesperson Samantha Warren.
Board members approved the demolition after lengthy discussion Monday afternoon. Questions about funding for the demolition, moving the Franco-American Centre and why the historic building was being torn down were brought up by board members and answered by UMaine President Joan Ferrini-Mundy.
The demolition has been funded correctly and delaying the razing of the hall would delay the whole improvement plan, Ferrini-Mundy said.
Board members included language in the approval to show support for the Franco-American Centre, but said the building cannot be maintained because of mounting maintenance costs and construction timelines.
“I want to make sure that people know that we heard them,” Board Chair Trish Riley said.
The added language requires the board to receive bi-annual reports on the relocation of the Franco-American Centre.
Several people spoke against the demolition at the Board of Trustees Monday meeting, including former Maine senator and gubernatorial candidate Troy Jackson. A letter from former Gov. Paul LePage was also read aloud to the board by a commenter.
Before the meeting, a group of students attended Orono Town Council meetings to ask for the town to stop the demolition by calling on a charter between the town and the university that gifted the building to UMaine.
One of those students, Lincoln Tiner, spoke during public comment of the Board meeting on Monday, saying the university should preserve its history.
“Demolishing Crossland Hall would destroy the very starting point of this university,” Tiner said. “Worse, it is an attack on Maine’s identity. Working to erase this historic farmhouse reveals a strong disdain for Maine heritage. The legacy of Crossland Hall should be celebrated, not destroyed for a handful of parking spaces.”
Other public comments echoed Tiner’s comments about the university’s support of the Franco-American Centre. Ferrini-Mundy and multiple board members said the University System supports the centre and the demolition of the building is based on how much maintenance of it would cost and the ongoing improvement plan.
“That is a clear commitment for me and for the leadership in my cabinet [to support the Centre], and we are in the midst of all of that discussion and all of that planning, and in concert with the Franco American Centre leadership and the dean,” Ferrini-Mundy said.
The Board does not have the ability to tell UMaine where a program should be housed, Riley said.
The Center will first be re-housed in Libby Hall, where the university will spend $50,000 renovating a space for the program, UMaine officials said. Within the next two years, the Center will move again to the Environmental Science Laboratory, which will undergo a $500,000 renovation.
“It’s not decimating the program. It is eliminating an old building and moving people into better quality facilities, and that’s really all that’s going on here,” Trustee Kelly Martin said.
