University Commons seen as ?campus connector?
By Kate Bucklin
PORTLAND ? The University of Southern Maine is moving forward with a proposal to develop land it owns along Interstate 295 as part of its long-range plan for the campus.
University Commons is a $25 million project that includes a 55,000-square-foot building for the Muskie School of Public Service and Osher Lifelong Learning Institute and an 11,800-square-foot addition to the Glickman Family Library for the Osher Map Library. The project is included in the University?s Vision 2020 plan and is considered the most visible and ambitious part of the plan, USM spokesman Bob Caswell said.
According to plans submitted to the Portland Planning Department, University Commons would replace existing ?light industrial? buildings that currently surround Glickman Library, including the Eastern Electric building, and the building housing Portland Plastic Pipe, which is moving.
?It will physically connect the library to the rest of the campus,? Caswell said.
The Muskie school and the Osher institute would be housed in the new Wishcamper Center on Bedford Street, and the Osher Map Library addition would be built on the Bedford Street side of Glickman Library. In an effort to make to campus more cohesive, the university plans to move the main entrance to the library to the back of the building, so it faces the rest of the campus instead of Forest Avenue.
Wishcamper will include a mix of classrooms, meeting spaces and offices. The Osher institute is now in a basement corner at Payson Smith Hall. The Muskie school holds classes throughout the city, including locations on Congress Street and on Forest Avenue. The new building will make those programs a permanent part of the Portland campus.
?It gives us a mix of facilities to better serve students and the community,? Caswell said. ?It is a major statement about USM.?
The University of Southern Maine has two main campuses, in Portland and in Gorham. Both campuses during have experienced growth in the past few years and are expanding. The Portland campus in recent years has added to its Science Building, and built a parking garage and community education center.
The Muskie School is named for the late Edmund S. Muskie, a Democrat who served as governor, U.S. senator and U.S. secretary of state. He was also a candidate for vice president and president. The school offers graduate courses in public and health policy and community planning.
The Osher Map Library is the only separately established rare map library in northern New England and one of only about a dozen in the nation with collections open to the public.
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute provides continuing education for people 50 and older.
About 11,000 people are enrolled at USM, including almost 6,000 full-time students. The school offers more than 40 undergraduate programs along with 27 graduate degree programs.
University Commons is one of the five-year strategic goals in the university?s Vision 2020 plan. Caswell said USM hopes to begin site work for the project late this year and have the Wishcamper Center open in the fall of 2008. The project will be paid for through a combination of privately raised funds and public money.
