Preparing to Cut The White Ribbon This Afternoon at 300 Fore Street. Are: Dean and President of Maine Law Leigh Saufley, Governor Janet T. Mills, Dannel P Malloy, Chancellor the U of Maine System and Trish Riley, Chair, Board of Trustees.
Governor Janet T. Mills (D) Waits Her Turn to Speak at the Grand Opening at 300 Fore Street, Portland.
Ned Muskie, (Son of the late Maine US Senator) Chats with Tory Ryden, who Begins Work Starting January 16, as Strategic Advisor and Director of Externl Affairs for the U Maine System. Muskie Said That he is Getting Ready to Donate Some of his Family’s Memorabilia to the Blaine House in Augusta.
Dean Leigh Saufley with Her Husband Bill Saufley at the Grand Opening at 300 Fore Street Late This Afternoon. They Met at Maine Law. Dean Saufley was Formerly a Maine Supreme Judicial Court Justice.
The Grand Opening of 300 Fore Street was a delightful blend of memories and a look to the future for many who attended this grand opening of the new headquarters for Maine Law late this afternoon: 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm.
Maine Law Dean Leigh Saufley recalled that she asked Chancellor Dannel P. Malloy to meet her at the downtown Portland location following the vacation of the building by the Council of International Educationl Exchange. (CIEE). She thought converting this vacant building into a law school would work. Chancellor Malloy agreed. Dean Saufley credited Chancellor Malloy with a “vision that without which we would not be here today,” she said. Renovating the former Council on International Educational Exchange, (CIEE) building saved millions of dollars that would have been required to modernize or construct a new building on campus where the law school has been located since 1972 – at 246 Deering Avenue.
Governor Janet T. Mills recalled eating a lot of chocolates and drinking coffee while at Maine Law in the other building that “helped to brng me to my success. Maine Law has a special place in my heart,” she said. She said this new building at 300 Fore Street would “do away with silos and make sure people talk to each other.” She noted that “iconic, odd shaped circular building” in which she attended law school.
The Governor also cited the advantages of this location for Maine Law because it is near courthouses and Portland law firms rather than in its isolated campus location at 246 Deering Avenue.
Trish Riley, Chair, of the Board of Trustees, concurred that Chancellor Malloy is a man “with a vision, who was able to lure Leigh Saufley off the bench to be Dean.” Riley said this is “more than a building. It’s an opportunity to strengthen partnerships across the Board. The future here is very bright.”
“We are at a crossroads,” said Chancellor Malloy. He could not emphasize enough how important it is that students be trained to preserve what we have. Without the talent Maine Law has trained, we would be in poorer shape he added.
According to the registrar, almost 300 law students of Manie Law will begin classes next week. It is the goal that each class will have 100 members in it in the near future according to the registrar. According to one source, it has not been decided what to do with the Maine Law building on the USM campus. It could even be torn down he said.
The 300 Fore Street building is also home to the University of Maine Graduate School of Business and the University of Maine Portland Gateway.