Hannaford Donates $500,000 to USM Community Education Center
A lecture hall planned as part of a Community Education Center
on the University of Southern Maine’s Portland campus will
be named in honor of Hannaford Bros. Co. as a result of a
lead gift announced earlier today (Friday, June 28) by USM
and Hannaford officials.
 The
gift of $500,000 from Hannaford’s Charitable Foundation will
help fund construction of the 400 to 500-seat Hannaford Lecture
Hall. Plans call for the Community Education Center to include
the Hannaford Lecture Hall, a classroom building and an attached
parking garage. The center will be located on the current
USM Bedford St. parking lot, adjacent to I-295. Pending city
approval, construction is scheduled to start in early 2003,
with completion expected in early 2004.
Hannaford President and Chief Operating Officer Ronald C.
Hodge said, “Hannaford is proud to have its name associated
with the project given USM’s commitment to meeting the educational
needs of Maine people and our company’s longstanding support
of education.” That support, he said, includes sponsorship
of the Maine Teacher of the Year program; $750,000 in donations
to the University of Maine System since 1990; $250,000 in
donations to local schools in 2001; and scholarships for employees.
“This gift affords us another opportunity to support public
education in Maine,” said Hodge, “and also represents a solid
investment in a growing business with the need for an educated,
motivated work force.”
“Hannaford’s generous support speaks to the critical link
between access to high quality education and the economic
and cultural vitality of our region,” said USM President Richard
L. Pattenaude. “This lead gift allows us to finalize plans
for a facility that will help USM better serve our 11,000
students as well as the 84,000 citizens who each year take
advantage of USM conferences, workshops and other events.”
“This gift makes a statement that USM has a significant role
as a vibrant force in the region’s intellectual and economic
lifeblood,” said Kenneth M. Nelson of Falmouth, president
of Nelson & Small, Inc., and president of the USM Foundation
Board of Directors. “USM, with the enthusiastic support of
Maine people and businesses, can nurture the quality of life
we relish.”
Last November, Maine voters approved a higher education bond
issue that included $8 million to help fund USM’s Community
Education Center. USM will raise additional funds from private
donations and other sources to pay for total construction
costs of the center, currently estimated at more than $20
million. The Hannaford Lecture Hall, with an estimated construction
cost of $2.6 million, will be funded privately. A combination
of the $8 million in state bond money, parking fees and private
funds will be used to finance the Community Education Center’s
classroom building and parking garage. The total cost of the
center will not be finalized until later this summer, once
architects and university officials complete work on the site
costs and final design.
Founded in Portland nearly 120 years ago, Hannaford Bros.
Co. now is based in Scarborough, and operates 46 stores throughout
Maine and an additional 69 supermarkets and food and drug
combination stores in New Hampshire, Vermont, New York and
Massachusetts. Hannaford employs approximately 23,000 associates.
The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Delhaize America,
Inc. which in turn is owned by Delhaize Group of Brussels,
Belgium.
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