BRUNSWICK

Plans to move University of Maine at Augusta’s University College from Bath to space owned by Southern Maine Community College’s at Brunswick Landing this summer are on track. That is despite the fact that SMCC’s plans to move academic facilities out of Orion Hall to make way for student housing have been delayed.

The University of Maine System Board of Trustees approved the move in January, and approved terms of the lease last month.

UMA will lease about 7,000 square feet of space in the first floor’s south wing of Orion Hall that it is renovating to create classrooms and offices at its own expense.

SMCC and UMA’s University College have a long history of partnership, sharing facilities, faculty, tutors and support services in the Bath Center for Higher Education. With the Bath Center closing in June, University College plans to move its operations to SMCC’s Midcoast Campus in Brunswick.

UMA had been leasing 12,960 square feet at 9 Park St. in Bath at a cost of about $130,000 a year. That lease ends this month and UMA plans to vacate after June 14, moving to Brunswick Landing in August.

UMA officials informed the city of Bath a year ago it intended to leave 9 Park St., after which the city sold the building in May 2013 to a Phippsburg developer for almost $800,000. The building is back on the market.

The rent for the new location will be $10.06 per square foot — the same rate paid in Bath. UMA will save about $68,400 per year, however, because it is renting a smaller amount of space.

Space at Orion will be “more compact,” said Sheri Stevens, UMA executive director of administration. That shouldn’t be a problem, she said, because more students are opting to take courses online.

“Our students will have access to learning commons for study space, food service, a book store — all those resources will be available through a collaborative agreement,” Stevens said.

SMCC has had a presence in the Mid-coast for the last 11 years, according to James Whitten, dean of SMCC’s Midcoast Campus & Satellite Center.

SMCC had also simultaneously leased space at 9 Park St. in Bath, before consolidating operations at Brunswick Landing, because “it didn’t make sense to have two facilities two miles apart,” said Whitten.

Orion Hall serves as the hub for SMCC’s nursing program, art courses and testing center.

The facility served as the Bachelor Officers Quarters while it was owned by the Navy. Former quarters have been converted into offices and teaching facilities and the officer’s bar is now an art classroom.

SMCC wants to see people living there again, and wants to convert the building into student housing. That won’t happen until SMCC classrooms and offices are moved to the future Learning Commons and Health Science Center, to be located in base’s former health and dental clinic.

Initially planned for 2011, moving from Orion has been delayed because of bond freezes from the governor’s office. That move is expected to happen next summer. A date has not yet been set for opening the dorms, which Whitten said would help attract students from outside Maine.

SMCC already rents space out of its Maine Advanced Technology and Engineering Center to UMaine at Orono for its engineering program.

“There’s still room for everybody,” Whitten said, referencing University College students, even though SMMC still won’t have made the move to Orion Hall until next summer. “When there’s an opportunity to collaborate, we will find a way to do it.”

“Our continued partnership with UMA further expands the wide range of opportunities and resources that are available to our students at the Midcoast Campus,” said SMCC President Ron Cantor in a written statement. “The students of both institutions benefit with access to a broader range of courses and services and the ability to transfer credits with ease.”

The Midcoast Campus has grown from 79 students when it opened in the fall of 2011 to more than 500 students last fall. SMCC expects between 600 and 650 students to attend classes this fall.

SMCC will offer nearly 100 course sections at its Midcoast Campus this fall in a wide variety of programs including business administration, nursing, pre-engineering, composite science and manufacturing, and liberal studies.

About 350 UMA students were enrolled in University College in Bath this past winter.

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