The University of New England is negotiating a potential land swap with the Maine Army National Guard that would give the school ownership of the Stevens Avenue armory building and allow the Guard to build a new facility in the Scarborough and Saco area.

The university has secured purchase options on two adjacent parcels of land totaling 36 acres in Scarborough and Saco that would be transferred to the National Guard for a new readiness center. In exchange, UNE would absorb the roughly 9-acre armory property for future use as the college expands its Portland presence.

“We are fairly landlocked there with Evergreen Cemetery to the south and the armory to the north,” said Bill Bola, vice president for operations at UNE. “We think we have hit on a (solution) that could be a win-win-win.”

University and National Guard representatives were expected to present details of their proposal to Scarborough officials on Wednesday evening as they seek to have a Guard readiness center designated as a permissible use on the 24 acres of land in Scarborough. Bola said the readiness center appears to be a permissible use on the 12 acres in Saco. Any zoning issues would need to be addressed in both towns before the university purchases the two parcels.

Bola said UNE has no immediate plans for the armory property or building. There have been parking concerns raised by the university’s neighbors as the school expands its programs on the former Westbrook College campus, and Bola said UNE would likely use the property for parking in the interim.

“We have no current designs that we are going to knock the armory building down and do X, Y or Z there,” Bola said. Future plans for the property could be addressed in a new master plan being developed by the university, Bola said.

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