During a daylong court hearing in Bangor, attorneys for Calvary Chapel Belfast again made their arguments for blocking the University of Maine System’s sale of the Hutchinson Center to a local social service agency.
The church has sued the UMaine System after it withdrew an offer to sell it to the Hutchinson Center. It is now seeking a preliminary injunction to stop the sale of the center to another buyer, Waldo Community Action Partners.
In its lawsuit, the church has accused the UMaine System of rescinding the offer because of public pressure it received from Belfast-area residents who were concerned about the church becoming its owner — claims the system has denied.
While appearing as a witness during the oral arguments on Tuesday, Pastor Greg Huston said Calvary Chapel Belfast has suffered “irreparable harm” from UMaine’s decision to back out of the deal.
The church now leases space for its services at another place of worship, Faith Temple. Huston said that location does not have enough space and that for months Calvary has had to turn participants away or deal with uncomfortable crowds. That has prevented the church from fulfilling its mission “to serve as many people as possible,” Huston said.
“We would not have space limitations of any sort if we had been allowed to close on the building,” Huston said. “Our religious mission is being stifled by being a tenant and not an owner.”
In addition to talking about the challenges of their current space, church representatives also suggested that the UMaine System’s decision was based on religious discrimination that violated their 14th amendment rights. They pointed to communications the system received from members of the public, which included alumni threatening to withhold donations, and employees also pushing back.
A federal judge previously denied Calvary Chapel Belfast’s request for a temporary restraining order to stop the sale.
The UMaine System has argued that it rescinded its offer to sell the facility to the church after discovering that it did not properly judge the first round of purchase proposals, ignoring the costs it would need to pay to lease back a public internet access hub at the center from its future owner. The system awarded the sale to Waldo CAP after it offered to pay the highest amount to buy the facility during a second round of proposals.
“Irreparable relief is just not warranted,” said Jeana McCormick, an attorney representing the UMaine System, during Tuesday’s hearing.