Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

University of Southern Maine Opens First On-Campus Dorm

  • By Matt Jones
  • 08/16/23

The University of Southern Maine in Portland, Maine, recently celebrated the opening of its first on-campus residence hall and a new parking garage, according to local news. Portland Commons covers 210,000 square feet and has a capacity for 580 beds across 385 units. The parking garage features 500 spaces, as well as 58 Level Two electric-vehicle-charging stations. The university held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new residence hall on Tuesday, August 17, according to the Portland Press Herald.

“This 580-bed residential hall will transform the campus, creating a hub for students from USM, Maine Law, and SMCC, solidifying Portland’s reputation as a college town and USM as the hub,” said USM President Jacqueline Edmondson.

The dorm’s exterior is wrapped in floor-to-ceiling glass, according to Spectrum Local News, and is projected to use less than 50% of the energy of a standard building. The Portland Press Herald reports that the facility includes four wings, two that stand five stories and two that stand eight stories. The dorm cost $74 million and the parking garage $23.5 million, both funded through revenue bonds that the University of Maine System approved in 2020.

“Portland Commons is a transformative addition to the student experience at USM,” said Dominic Barraclough, Interim Vice President for Student Affairs and Vice Provost for Academic Affairs. “Undergraduates will now have a living experience in Portland to aspire toward during their first two years, and graduate students will have a place to live and find community and support while they complete their degrees.”

According to university officials, the goal of the project was to alleviate living expenses for small-town students and serve as a “campus heart” for residential and commuting students.

“By building our residence hall to earn Passive House certification and by making alternative transportation front and center in our new garage, we’ve decided we aren’t taking baby steps anymore,” said USM Director of Sustainability Aaron Witham. “We are now taking big strides toward our commitment to be a carbon-neutral university by 2040.”

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Virginia Tech Tops Out New College of Engineering Building

    Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., recently celebrated the topping out of Mitchell Hall, which will soon stand as the largest College of Engineering building on campus, according to a news release. The university partnered with Skanska on the 285,500-square-foot facility, which has an expected completion date of winter 2028.

  • California High School Opens New Classroom Building for 7th-, 8th-Graders

    Santa Rosa City Schools in Santa Rosa, Calif., recently announced the completion of a new classroom building for Piner High School. As the campus transitions to a Junior/Senior High School, the facility will play home to the school’s new population of seventh- and eighth-grade students.

  • Dallas-Area District Debuts Three New Facilities

    The Duncanville Independent School District in southwest Dallas, Texas, recently held ribbon-cutting ceremonies for three new facilities that resulted from a $170-million bond program passed in 2023, according to a news release.

  • Designing the Bridge Between Inclusivity and Independence in K–12 Schools

    Fostering independence is fundamental to learning and development for K–12 students. It offers many proven benefits, such as enhanced confidence, problem-solving, decision-making, and social skills. However, this foundational objective loses its impact if it’s not accessible and adaptable to all students. Inclusivity plays a critical role in cultivating independence and healthy autonomy for students, fostering positive student learning outcomes by uniting pedagogy with the physical learning environment.