HOULTON, Maine – Area residents will be able to continue taking university-level classes at the University of Maine System’s Houlton Higher Education Center following the building’s recent sale.
The sale of the downtown building to the Community Living Association is being finalized and the facility will be turned over to the buyer on July 1, University of Maine Presque Isle President Ray Rice said on Monday. Rice said a few details are still being worked out.
The sale price of the building is $525,000.
Last summer, Rice shared with the community in a public forum that financial deficits for the education center were growing and projected to continue as tuition revenues dwindled from $180,000 in FY 2018 to $70,000 in FY 2022 and building revenues from $317,000 in FY 2018 to $190,000 in FY 2022.
The 15,662-square-foot building, designed for in-person university-level courses, no longer met changing student needs, Rice said, adding that with online instruction, the university used 75 percent less of the space than it did in 2001.
In January, the UMS board of trustees gave Rice approval to put the building up for sale and after a formal assessment, valuing the building at just under $1 million, they put it out for bid.
The Community Living Association, serving the needs of the Houlton Community for more than 50 years, was one of six bidders on the property, Rice said.
As part of the bid, the university wanted to maintain a carve-out piece of about 3,240 square feet for classroom, office space and computer lab along with ensuring that access to the state’s Three Ring Binder high speed fiber network was retained in the building, he said.
“We wanted someone that would most meet the needs of local organizations while still ensuring we had access use of the building for educational needs,” Rice said.
The Community Living Association is an excellent example because they want to continue to provide the community space, for example a quilting organization has been meeting there over the summers and Community Living has already let them know they can continue, Rice said.
The university will continue operating in the building with limited in-person classes as well as internet and support access for students. They will start with a five-year, $1 a year lease, that is renewable every year after the first five.
“It’s really good for everyone,” Rice said.
The Adult Education Program that has been housed in the Education Center for over 20 years will not remain, according to director Joe Fagnant.
On May 9 Fagnant notified Rice that the program would be moving out effective June 1 because of the building’s uncertain future and because the program needed additional space for continuing growth.
They now serve 28 towns in Southern Aroostook, Fagnant said.
Since that time the sale was finalized.
The adult education program is now housed in a lower floor of Summit Academy, a downtown Houlton school that is part of RSU 29, where Fagnant is superintendent.
“We had a fantastic collaboration of partners for over twenty years and we will miss what was a welcoming space for our community, where services were found all under one roof,”
Fagnant said, adding that adult education is growing again, with the addition of Katahdin schools to their programs.
According to Rice the Community Living Association can now centralize all their locations into one and the university can continue with the services they want to provide.
Rob Moran, executive director of the Community Living Association said on Monday evening that they are happy about the move and it will help them integrate into the community.
The Community Living Association serves about 250 to 300 people from south of Bangor to Fort Kent. They have about 170 employees, Moran said.
Because of the complexity of the move, they plan to do it in stages, he said with the training department moving in first. If all goes well, training, case management and the main office should be completely moved in late August or early September, Moran said, adding that their current building near the Houlton Christian Academy will be up for sale.
“It’s not often that you can get a win for everyone and I feel this worked out as ideally as it could,” Rice said.
