The Sustaining Capital Fund will introduce the UMFK campus to alternative energy, especially through the widespread use of biomass technologies; improve energy efficiency; and make essential repairs and improvements to its facilities.

During the past year, the University and MSAD 27 received a $2.7 million U.S. Department of Agriculture grant to construct a biomass heating system to heat 11 buildings on the UMFK and Fort Kent Community High School campuses. Earlier, the University was awarded a $500,000 grant by the state Department of Conservation to convert The Lodge and the Sports Center to a biomass heating. The two systems will save the University $4 million in heating costs in the next decade.

The Fund will identify, solicit, and raise capital to renovate the former Maine National Guard Armory as a shared center for University and community activities. A joint University/community task force has identified several viable - though still unfunded - recommendations for use of the former armory.

The Sustaining Capital Fund will secure capital to assist the University improve its physical assets, including the renovation of classroom and dormitory facilities. It will secure one-time and non-recurring items not budgeted for in the University's annual operating budget.

The Fund will allow the University to develop efficiencies that, in turn, will allow it to develop and maintain a more diverse and sustainable revenue base for the foreseeable future.