PORTLAND, Maine — The widow and children of the late Leon Gorman, L.L. Bean’s grandson and the namesake company’s former president, are donating $4 million to Maine Medical Center, the hospital announced Tuesday morning.
The donation will “make possible” a central, open-air lobby at the hospital’s planned six-story medical building on Congress Street, which is part of the facility’s ongoing $525-million expansion, according to the Tuesday announcement.
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With the gift, the lobby will be named for Leon Gorman, who served as the Freeport company’s president, board chairman and chairman emeritus over a total of nearly five decades before he died in 2015 at the age of 80.
The donation is being made by his surviving spouse, Lisa Gorman, as well as Leon Gorman’s children and their spouses
“This gift is a joint venture with Leon’s children, my wonderful stepchildren, Jeff and Sonya Gorman and Jennifer and Bennett Wilson,” said Lisa Gorman in a statement. “I like to think of our gift as the old and new generations coming together to show their love for Maine and their desire to ensure it has the most advanced medical services available. This is one of the most important gifts we can give to the people of Maine.”
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The hospital’s ongoing expansion will create 128 private patient rooms, add 19 rooms for surgeries and other procedures and create 225 more parking spaces for patients and visitors, according to Maine Medical Center.
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