After rescinding an offer to sell the Hutchinson Center in Belfast to a local evangelical church, the University of Maine System plans to restart the bidding process next week.

Last month, the UMaine system announced it would sell the Hutchinson Center, a former community hub in Belfast, to Calvary Chapel Belfast,  sparking criticism from neighbors and the two other bidders for the site, both of whom filed protests. The system reversed its decision weeks later, claiming that its initial criteria for selecting a winning bid failed to account for the full financial impact of each bid, including the potential cost-savings associated with not having to move an internet network hub currently located on the site.

System officials have said that the reversal stemmed solely from issues in its evaluation criteria and did not reflect the merits of any individual proposals or bidders.

The system will issue a new request for proposals by noon on Oct. 4 and must receive the proposals by 5 p.m. on Nov. 1, spokesperson Samantha Warren said in a statement Thursday afternoon. She did not elaborate on how the new request will differ from the last.

“All interested parties – including the three Waldo County organizations who responded to the initial RFP – will have the same equal opportunity to submit offers responsive to the new solicitation by that deadline,” Warren said.

Representatives of Calvary Chapel and the Future of Hutchinson Center Steering Committee, which made its own bid to turn the building into a multiuse community center, have said that both groups are considering making another bid. Waldo Community Action Partners, the third bidder, has not indicated whether it will make another attempt to purchase the site.

The decades-old center was built by Delaware-based bank holding company MBNA and later gifted to the school by Bank of America. The building has not hosted classes for degree-seeking students since 2020, and programming ceased completely last year.

In an email, Warren said she could not share any further details on how the new request may differ from the last one or how long officials will deliberate on the bids. She said the new RFP “is still being developed” Thursday afternoon.

Once issued, the new request for proposals will be available on the system’s website at maine.edu/strategic-procurement/upcoming-bids/.