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A federal judge has denied a Belfast church’s request to halt the University of Maine System’s sale of a Belfast facility to another party, as part of that church’s larger lawsuit trying to stop the transaction.
Federal Judge Stacey Neumann denied the temporary restraining order requested by Calvary Chapel Belfast to pause the sale. This decision came out on Friday.
The university system is selling the now-shuttered Hutchinson Center to Belfast-based Waldo Community Action Partners. It withdrew an earlier offer to sell the center to the church because of what it said were issues with the criteria for evaluating bids. The church has claimed in its lawsuit the withdrawal was “motivated by religious discrimination.”