UMaine System upholds Hutchinson Center sale to 'highest-scoring bidder'

File photo / Courtesy University of Maine The Hutchinson Center was donated to the University of Maine in 2007.

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Overruling a protest by a thwarted bidder for the University of Maine's Hutchinson Center in Belfast, the University of Maine System has upheld a recent decision to sell the property to a Waldo County nonprofit for $3.06 million.

Last month, Waldo County Action Partners won the latest auction with an offer that exceeded the property’s appraised value of $2.52 million.

The Hutchinson Center property, donated by the Bank of America in 2007, includes a 30,515-square-foot main building, a 1,963-square-foot barn and 11.6 acres of land.

The winning bid exceeded the two other offers of $1.8 million from the Future of the Hutchinson Center Steering Committee/Waterfall Arts, and $1.1 million from Cavalry Chapel Belfast, which had won the auction the first time around.

After the losers of that first auction objected, the Orono school launched a second request for proposals that attracted offers from the same three bidders.

When that auction resulted in a different outcome, Cavalry Church Belfast filed a protest.

But in a letter to the group sent on Monday, the University of Maine System noted the established protest process “is specific to the terms, conditions and evaluation of the proposals submitted under this solicitation,” and that the request for proposals “adhered to all applicable policies and procedures, ensuring a fair and transparent process for all respondents.”

Cavalry Chapel Belfast has the right to appeal the System’s decision.