Photo / Courtesy, Maine Arts Academy
Construction is underway on the Maine Arts Academy’s new dance studio and performance hall.
Updated: August 6, 2024
Maine Arts Academy is building out new campus, expanding programs and enrollment
Photo / Courtesy, Maine Arts Academy
The larger location of the Maine Arts Academy is expected to benefit students and the community.
After moving a year ago to Augusta and into a new home, the Maine Arts Academy is now outfitting it with a new dance studio and performance hall.
The hall will seat about 200 and perhaps as many as 250, Heather King, the head of schools, told Mainebiz.
“We are adding a stage and opening up the ceiling,” she said. “We've taken walls down on each side to create a space that is roughly 4,000 square feet.”
The contractor is Boucher Builders LLC in Windsor. The engineer overseeing the project is Criterium Engineers in Freeport. WBRC Inc., an architectural firm in Bangor and Portland, designed the spaces.
Features in the dance studio will include Marley flooring, a specialized vinyl surface often used in dance. There will be new mirrors along the walls and an accessible door, and the ceilings will be lifted slightly.
In the auditorium, there will be a stage with the ceiling lifted substantially above the stage for lighting, along with a sound and lighting booth for performances.
The charter school for the arts moved into 310 Cony Road in June 2023 and began the school year two months later.
The building, a former Maine Veterans’ Homes site, is about six times larger than the academy’s previous 12,000-square-foot location at 11 Goldenrod in Sidney.
By contrast, 310 Cony Road, purchased for $3.25 million, is 69,615-square-foot building on nine acres.
Photo / Courtesy, Maine Arts Academy
After moving into its new home at 310 Cony Road in Augusta a year ago, the Maine Arts Academy is in the next phase of development.
USDA Rural Development provided a direct loan and a loan guarantee to Kennebec Savings Bank to make possible the school’s purchase.
USDA Rural Development staff, include COO Roger Glendenning, recently visited the campus to see how the funding worked on the ground.
“When touring the new facility with Heather and her team, I could envision the potential it has for students involved in dance, music, visual and other creative arts,” Glendenning said. “How exciting to know this school will now have the capacity to expand and grow into the future.”
Photo / Courtesy, USDA Rural Development
USDA Rural Development’s Roger Glendenning with Maine Arts Academy’s Heather King, left, and Rachel Merrill.
Established in 2016, the school for grades 9 through 12 offers studies in dance, music, theater, visual arts and film, as well as English, math, science, social studies and world languages.
Charter schools in Maine are publicly funded schools through the state, but do not receive local tax support. They rely on state money, grants and donations.
“Our enrollment has increased every year since we have been open,” said King. “We are hoping for 250 to 260 students this upcoming year.”
The school is seeking approval to add a middle school.
“If we get approved, we will open it in the fall of 2025 with 7th and 8th grade,” she said. Meanwhile, additional bus stops are bringing students from farther away.
“We have students coming from Westbrook, Newport, Mechanic Falls and as far east as Bucksport,” King said.
She expects that the larger space will benefit the school's theater, music, dance and visual arts departments, as well as the public.
“This space will also support other community endeavors,” she added.
For example, the local Colonial Theater held a dinner theater in the building this past spring and is using the building for rehearsals until the company's own theater is complete in downtown Augusta.
“Pineland Suzuki School's Orchestra will be using our building as well,” King said. “We have driver's education in the building, and Healthy Communities of the Capital Area and Indigo Arts Alliance out of Portland have both been working on projects with us that highlight the arts and social issues.
“Having a larger space will not only benefit our students but will benefit community partnerships.”
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