The University of Maine System now plans to sell the Hutchinson Center in Belfast to an agency that provides community services in Waldo County, after it rescinded an earlier offer to sell the facility to a local church.
Waldo Community Action Partners has now been selected to buy the facility, the system announced on Friday morning. Waldo CAP offered to pay $3.06 million for the property, which was above the appraised value of $2.52 million for the building.
That was also higher than the offers made by the two other bidders. Calvary Chapel Belfast, which had earlier been selected as the buyer, offered $1.1 million. A partnership of the Future of the Hutchinson Center Steering Committee and Waterfall Arts offered to pay $1.8 million.
The three groups are the same ones who bid on the Hutchinson Center during the first round of proposals, but the $3.06 million purchase price offered by Waldo CAP marks a big increase from the $1 million it had initially offered. The other two groups also raised their offered purchase prices, but less dramatically. Calvary Chapel Belfast had initially offered $1 million and the committee had offered $500,000.
Like the two other bidders, Waldo CAP has also agreed to lease some space currently housing Networkmaine infrastructure back to the UMaine System at no cost for at least five years to maintain internet connectivity for public schools, libraries and other institutions in the midcoast.
Waldo CAP also gave proof of its funds and did not have contingencies that could delay the sale, which is expected to close in early 2025, according to the system.
However, the other bidders now have five days to appeal the decision.
The UMaine System rescinded the earlier offer to sell the Hutchinson Center to Calvary Chapel Belfast after discovering a deficiency in the selection criteria that had been used to evaluate the initial proposals, it has said.
The new criteria have given more consideration to how much the new owner would charge the system to lease back the Networkmaine infrastructure to the system.
The initial sale offer to Calvary Chapel Belfast had been controversial, with many area residents speaking out against it. More recently, church representatives have criticized the system for rescinding the original offer.
Bank of America donated the Hutchinson Center to the UMaine System in 2007. It served for years as a remote learning center and event space in the region, but has been closed to in-person classes since 2020.