Amid lawsuit and protest, UMaine System moves ahead with sale of Hutchinson Center to nonprofit [Video]

The University of Maine System plans to follow through with the sale of a Belfast building to a local nonprofit despite an appeal and a lawsuit by an evangelical church.

Waldo Community Action Partners was chosen as the buyer for the Hutchinson Center in a second round of bidding last month. The system chose Calvary Baptist Church during the first round of bidding, but rescinded the offer because it said the evaluation process failed to account for costs associated with a network hub that would need to stay in the building.

The church filed a lawsuit against the UMaine System on Nov. 19, alleging religious discrimination in the process. The next day, the church filed a written protest with UMS, temporarily halting the sale. Officials said the award of the building would be paused while it conducted a review of the offers.

In the statement Monday, the system affirmed its commitment to selecting Waldo Community Action Partners, which it said submitted the highest-scoring …