ORONO, Maine — The University of Maine on Wednesday unveiled detailed plans for Morse Arena, a new 2,660-seat basketball venue made possible by a $10 million gift from 1964 UMaine graduates Phillip and Susan Morse.

The project is part of a $320 million investment from the Harold Alfond Foundation, including a $170 million investment to fund the Athletics Facilities Master Plan as part of UMS TRANSFORMS.

Located near the south end of Alfond Stadium and Morse Field, the facility will extend from just behind the south end zone through the North Gym parking lot to the edge of Long Road. 

Construction will begin after the 2025 fall semester and the building is expected to be completed and in use during the 2027-28 basketball season.

The arena will serve as the new home court for the men's and women's basketball teams, but will also host youth and community events, reinforcing UMaine's role as a statewide hub for sports and engagement. 

"Morse Arena reflects the power of partnership and investment in our students," said University of Maine President Joan Ferrini-Mundy. "This facility will not only strengthen our athletic programs, but also serve as a source of pride and great gathering venue for the university and the state of Maine."

As the new home of Maine's only NCAA Division-I program, Morse Arena will help attract top student-athletes and position the Black Bears to compete for America East titles and NCAA tournament berths.

"We are excited to provide our programs with the high-caliber basketball facility that this state deserves," said UMaine Director of Athletics Jude Killy. "We believe that we are putting all the pieces in place to make sustained runs at postseason play in college basketball, and Morse Arena is right at the center of that. We are incredibly grateful to the Harold Alfond Foundation, and Phil and the late Sue Morse, for helping to make this vision a reality."

The new arena will offer fans an intimate game-day experience with chairback, bleacher and courtside seating. A 4,000-square-foot club area for hosting events, groups and premium seat holders will be created to further enhance the fan experience and support the student-athletes during competition.

The area will include gameday viewing options for football and basketball as well as a dedicated kitchen space, food service area and bar service. With a capacity of 300 guests, it will also serve as a flexible space for community events, meetings and celebrations.

The men's and women's basketball teams will each have new locker rooms and lounges with modern lighting and the latest technology, creating one of the premier home team spaces in the Northeast. The programs will also benefit from a new film room and dedicated dining and nutrition areas. 

New offices for the men's and women's head coaches, assistant coaches and support staff will further UMaine's mission to become one of the top-five Division-I athletic programs in New England. New visiting team locker rooms will provide updated space for opposing teams as well as high school and youth programs who will utilize the spaces for special events and tournament competitions.

Morse Arena will also include state-of-the-art sports performance spaces. The new student-athlete support area for sports medicine will feature hot and cold recovery plunge pools as well as a dedicated space for rehabilitation.

The new sport performance area will feature more than 6,000 square feet dedicated to speed, strength and agility, equipped with state-of-the-art training technology. It will serve not only basketball, but also football and other varsity programs. Combined with existing facilities at the Shawn Walsh Hockey Center and Latti Fitness Center, Maine Athletics will offer more than 12,000 square feet of dedicated training space for over 450 student-athletes.

Morse Arena will also be the host of Maine's new football operations center, which includes new football staff offices on the concourse level of the building with direct stair access to Morse Field. Along with the individual office space, the football footprint of the arena will offer two large conference rooms to accommodate staff meetings and film breakdown.

Upon entry to the arena, fans and visitors will be greeted to a spacious lobby featuring Black Bear branding with displays of athletics history, significant individual and team accomplishments. The lobby will also feature a new box office and administrative offices.

WBRC Inc. (Bangor, Maine) and Crawford Architects (Kansas City, Missouri) will be the architects for the project. Construction management will be executed by Consigli (Portland, Maine). Forty Nine Degrees (Coldwater, Ohio) will lead the internal branding efforts.