BANGOR — In a Jan. 10 decision, U.S. District Court Judge Stacey Neumann denied a request for a temporary restraining order to be imposed on UMaine to stop it from negotiating the sale of the Hutchinson Center campus in Belfast to Waldo CAP — Waldo Community Action Partners — a nonprofit that assists low-income Waldo County residents to alleviate poverty.

Calvary Chapel Belfast had asked the court in November to halt the divestment process to Waldo CAP. It had also filed a complaint against UMaine, citing breach of contract, violation of the First Amendment free speech clause, religious targeting and discrimination, and violation of the 14th Amendment equal protection clause. The church asked the court to direct UMaine to negotiate the sale of the Hutchinson Center to the church. 

On Jan. 6, the court heard oral arguments on the restraining order, and Judge Neumann's decision was recorded Jan. 10.

The church, through its attorneys with Liberty Counsel, was disputing the Dec. 2 announcement by UMaine that it was upholding its decision to sell the Hutchinson Center to the "highest-scoring bidder," despite a formal protest and a lawsuit, both filed by Calvary Chapel Belfast, the church that the University of Maine System had originally picked in August to be the next owner of the campus.

Liberty Counsel had said in in its complaint that in awarding the bid to Waldo CAP, UMaine officials failed to act neutrally and fairly, and were pressured by those against the church.

"Local curmudgeons were outraged by the Hutchinson Center’s sale to a church that holds Biblical Christian beliefs," the suit said. "That being so, these purportedly 'inclusive' and 'tolerant' community members, along with the two disappointed bidders, unlawfully conspired together to pressure UMS’s officials to rescind the Church’s award because of the Church’s Christian beliefs."

Judge Neumann noted in her Jan. 10 conclusion the absence of direct circumstantial evidence to connect community animus to UMaine's December decision to sell the campus to Waldo CAP.

"The Church argues the comments of the public and the other bidders, combined with what the Church alleges were procedural anomalies in the System’s process, demonstrate the System made its decision to rescind its initial award to the Church because of the Church’s religious status and views, and therefore violated the Equal Protection Clause," she wrote.

She cited several law cases and said: "From these cases it is clear that impermissible animus in the community can be a basis for determining that a government official acted with discriminatory intent by essentially adopting the community’s views even if the official does not personally share them. However, it is equally clear there must be some showing connecting the animus in the community to the government action."

Neumann said further on in her decision that while there was evidence produced by the Church of bias, it came from parties outside the UMaine system.

"However, unlike the cases cited, rather than adopting the community’s animosity toward the Church, the System here specifically rejected such bias," the judge wrote.

UMaine was interested in saving $500,000 that was related to a communications network hub that the university intends to keep under its purview at the Hutchinson Center, the order read.

"Rather than indicating the Networkmaine hub issue was used as a pretext for religious discrimination as the Church posits, the System’s decision to issue the second RFP, RFP #2025-031, instead demonstrates that leaving the hub in place indefinitely to save $500,000 was the actual and not pretextual reason for the System to overturn its original decision granting the Church the winning bid," Neumann wrote.

In her decision denying the temporary restraining order on real estate negotiations, Judge Neumann said, "In sum, the Church has not produced enough probative circumstantial evidence of impermissible religious bias for the Court to conclude that it is likely to succeed on the merits of its Equal Protection Clause claim for relief."

While the decision rejected the restraining order, Judge Neumann did not decide on the Church's eight-count complaint against UMaine. That case continues in Bangor federal court.

On Jan. 6, after the hearing in Bangor in the federal courthouse, proponents for Calvary Hope Belfast posted on the church's  Facebook page: "Calvary Chapel won the public bid for the building fair and square with the highest bid, but the 'tolerant' and 'inclusive' anti-religious zealots bitterly complained about the Church’s Christian beliefs, so the University canceled the sale and agreed to sell the Auditorium to another, more 'inclusive' buyer.This will not stand! The Constitution does not permit such blatant discrimination against the Church."

Following the Jan. 10 decision, UMaine circulated a statement, courtesy of Samantha Warren, Director of External Affairs and Director of Government and Community Relations.

Warren said: "The University of Maine System has strongly maintained it did not discriminate and that no party has been harmed by the transparent, competitive process through which we have sought to sell the Hutchinson Center, even if they may be disappointed by our decision to award the right to negotiate sale terms and conditions to a local organization that offered more than double the purchase price of any other bidder."

Warren added: "We welcome today’s decision by the Court, which affirms the integrity of our process and our continued commitment to acting in the best interests of our public university system and the tuition and taxpayers of Maine. The System will continue to defend itself in any further proceedings on this matter."

UMaine and the listed defendants are repesented by attorneys with the Portland-based  Drummond Woodsum firm.