In 2015, the Part I Program was initiated and executed to identify the need for a new school building, where it could go, what it would likely cost and justify why it should happen; this document put the project into the state’s capital project queue.

In 2021, the Part II program was executed to solicit feedback from all constituent entities and fully describe a list all functions, spaces, assets and systems that would need to be incorporated into the new building.

In 2022, after recommendation by the USM and approval by the Department of Budget and Management, the legislature passed and governor signed the appropriation bill that included the initial funding to begin design of a new building.

In 2023, over the first 7 months of the design process, the Architecture/Engineering team has met with 18 distinct constituent groups, in addition to university facilities staff and leadership, over the course of 8 workshops for a cumulative duration totaling over 60 hours. Those discussions centered around school-wide goals and departmental needs, as well as building operational systems and campus utilities.

Currently, the project team is wrapping up schematic design - developing the conceptual vision, refining arrangements and adjacencies, selecting the utility and operational systems, establishing the structure, determining the enclosure systems, and composing the architectural massing in order to lay the groundwork to focus more on the project specifics.