The University of Maine System announced Wednesday that it’s seeking offers for parties to buy, lease or repurpose its Hutchinson Center in Belfast, after programming ended there last summer.
In a request for proposals posted on the UMaine System’s website, it said the center located on Route 3 was recently appraised at $2.5 million and that it would consider purchase, lease or “alternative creative real property” offers. The deadline for initial proposals is Feb. 5.
The request for offers was first reported by the Penobscot Bay Pilot.
The Hutchinson Center first opened in 2000 and previously offered space for professional development and conferences along with courses for high school students and older residents.
But the UMaine System ended those programs in August to cut costs, saying that it would continue to offer online education, professional development opportunities and cooperative extension programs for people in Waldo County.
A group of local residents has been pushing the university system to hold onto the property and to resume offering educational programs and events there.
