A federal judge has rejected a Belfast church's request to halt the sale of the Hutchinson Center to Waldo County Community Action Partners. Calvary Chapel Belfast has accused the University of Maine System of religious discrimination for rescinding acceptance of an earlier bid from the church.
U.S. District Court Judge Stacey Neumann denied Calvary Chapel Belfast's request for a temporary restraining order to stop the University of Maine System from moving forward with the sale.
The church was initially selected as the winning bidder for the Hutchinson Center. But after restarting the bidding process, the university system selected Waldo County Community Action Partners, which bid more than $3 million. Calvary Chapel Belfast submitted a bid of $1.1 million in the second bidding process.
The church submitted the lawsuit shortly after, arguing religious discrimination, and that the university system only rescinded the original bid because of community pushback in selling the Hutchinson Center to a religious institution.
But Neumann writes that the church has not presented evidence to connect the community displeasure to the university's decision, failing to meet the standards for a restraining order to stop the sale.
The university has said it restarted the bidding process because the original evaluation did not consider cost avoidance measures. Namely, that the university could leave the NetworkMaine access infrastructure in place and lease the space, instead of relocating it, which would have cost half a million dollars.
