Portland approves new student center, dorm at University of Southern Maine

The Portland Planning Board has approved a new student center and dormitory for the University of Southern Maine’s Portland campus.

The board unanimously approved the $100 million project, which will add a 580-bed dorm and 43,000-square-foot student center to the campus by May 2023, Tuesday night, according to the Portland Press-Herald.

Both buildings were initially scheduled to be completed by August 2022, but university officials said in April that the coronavirus was delaying the project, the Press Herald reported.

USM, which is part of the University of Maine System, has campuses in Portland, Gorham and Lewiston. Its campus has remained open through the COVID-19 pandemic, though it closed briefly last week after the virus was detected in the wastewater at the Gorham campus.