University of Southern Maine President Jacqueline Edmondson, alongside fellow university leaders, signed a structural beam of USM’s new visual arts building in Gorham on Nov. 3.
“It’s exciting to sign the beam today and to think about how far this construction has come,” Edmondson said.
The signing comes as construction reaches a milestone, moving past the halfway mark. With the building’s exterior largely in place and its floors poured, work has shifted indoors, where crews are framing walls and installing the early infrastructure for plumbing, electrical, and heating and cooling systems.
Construction remains on schedule, with the building set to open for the fall 2027 semester.
“The contractor is looking to be substantially complete around June 1, allowing the month of June to help facilitate necessary equipment moves,” said Matt McCammon, the project manager onsite.
That leaves the rest of the summer for project staff and the Department of Art to bring in furniture and equipment and prepare the spaces for fall classes.
The new building will bring USM’s visual arts programs together under one roof, with studios for ceramics, sculpture, drawing, woodworking, and photography, along with digital and 3D classrooms. Space has also been set aside for future painting and printmaking studios.
Since breaking ground in January, the project has moved quickly. It will be the first major academic building to go up on the Gorham campus in nearly two decades.
Kelly Hrenko, professor of art education and associate dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, sees the progress as a turning point for the arts at USM.
“This investment will strengthen our ability to recruit and support talented students, advance innovative teaching and creative scholarship, and build meaningful connections between the university and the communities we serve,” said Hrenko.
With windows set to go in before the end of the year, crews will be able to continue work through the winter and spring.
When the building opens next fall, it will give art students and faculty advanced, dedicated spaces designed for the work they do, and offer the wider community a new place to engage with the arts at USM.
“A year from now, it’s going to be buzzing with students, activity, and art,” Edmondson said. “I couldn’t be happier about the project.”