Opportunities for Giving
Muskie School Building Update
August 2007
If you haven't been down Bedford Street in Portland lately, you're in for a surprise. The Muskie School's new home, the Wishcamper Center is rapidly taking shape. The work is on schedule, with occupancy set for August 2008. The picture below, taken last week, shows the nearly completed steel frame.
In early September, construction will begin on the hanging of the building's fritted glass wall facing Bedford Street with the intention of having the structure fully closed in by this November.
The Wishcamper Center will be LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified, meeting the U.S. Green Building Council's nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings. Senator Muskie would be pleased that the school that bears his name will live up to the spirit of the federal Clean Air and Clean Water Act that he so carefully crafted and shepherded through Congress and then on to the President's desk for signature into law.
Among other features of the School's new home:
- The building is heated and cooled by geo-thermal energy from wells drilled 1,500 ft. into the earth.
- Rain water is being collected off the roof and recycled.
- All materials are low emission, containing a high percentage of recycled material and where possible brought in from local sources.
- The majority of all the wood products are from Forest Stewardship Council certified forests, which use environmentally responsible forest management techniques.
- Similarly, the current paved property around the building is being restored to living, permeable landscape.
- A minimum of 75% of construction waste is being recycled.
- The second floor forum roof is covered in vegetation to absorb and filter water, and the fourth floor roof is covered in highly reflective energy star rated roofing membrane to conserve on energy use.
Adjacent to the Wishcamper Center, demolition has been completed on the former electric and pipe company buildings, clearing the way for the new addition to the Osher Map Library and the new entrance to the Glickman Library. These changes along with the Muskie's new home, will combine to form an attractive, vibrant new University Commons on the north end of the USM's Portland campus – a welcome focus for the Muskie School's role as one of the states' preeminent graduate programs, a program with deep roots in the unique culture and context of Maine, but known and respected broadly for its extraordinary accomplishments in advancing the agenda of public service in Maine, in New England, and throughout the nation.
To check on the daily progress of construction, visit the links below to view the webcams that give us all a 24/7 view of the emerging Wishcamper Center.
We are all looking forward to you joining us when the doors open on our new home in the fall of next year!
