Landry/French Construction is on schedule to complete the University of Maine at Orono’s 14,000-square-foot Sustainable Aquaculture Workforce and Innovation Center in the next few months.
Work on the University of Maine at Orono’s 14,000-square-foot Sustainable Aquaculture Workforce and Innovation Center is on track to wrap up by the end of summer, on schedule.
“The crux of this project is that it’s a straightforward, effective building that houses complex equipment, so coordination with researcher-furnished equipment is paramount,” according to Denis Garriepy, COO at project contractor at Scarborough-based Landry/French Construction.
The project team — the university, Landry/French and Portland-based SMRT Architects & Engineers — coordinated exact infrastructure systems requirements and locations well in advance of equipment deliveries to ensure a smooth transition from design to construction to turnover.
"That process is successfully unfolding on the project now," Garriepy said.
The center is designed to support innovative saltwater and freshwater research and will house offices, classrooms and research labs. Fish tanks and equipment are being designed by Innovasea, which is headquartered in Boston.
The pre-engineered metal building replaces the university’s former Aquaculture Research Center, which closed in 2021 and was demolished in 2022.
The new building is larger by about 1,000 square feet, and has room to expand to 20,000 square feet.
Financing for the $10.35 million project includes $7 million in congressionally directed spending, along with another $3.35 million from the state’s jobs and recovery plan.
