By 1969, student enrollment had increased tenfold from the 25 nursing students in 1962 to over 250 in ten programs. The new director, Harold Mailman, saw an immediate need for new student housing to accommodate the rapidly growing student population. Thanks to the efforts of Mr. Mailman, $650,000 was allotted for the construction of a new dormitory for men on campus as part of a $3.8 million bond issue for the expansion of Maine’s Vocational-Technical Institutes. Director Mailman appeared on WAGM TV/Radio just days before the June 15th special state-wide election to give justification as to why the new dormitory was needed. The referendum passed easily, and plans were made to build a new men’s dormitory that would house eighty to one-hundred students.
Andrews Hall was designed primarily by Edward Millett, President of Bunker and Savage Architects of Augusta, Maine. Also included in the design process were students from the drafting class on campus, faculty, and several housemothers from the existing dormitories. They were given two simple instructions—it must house as many as possible, and it must be designed complimentary to the recently completed Christie Building. Their design was something altogether new. It involved ten male students living together in a family style setting. They would share a bathroom, a lounge area, laundry facilities, and an equal responsibility for maintaining and cleaning the area. There would be ten of these units in all, housing a total of one-hundred students.
Dedicated to Roland B. Andrews, the longtime superintendent of schools for the Presque Isle area, this new dormitory was built by Cyr Construction Company of Caribou, Maine. Construction was completed and the building was ready for occupancy by the fall semester of 1972, a short three years after Director Mailman perceived the need for the new space.
During the summer of 1992, the badly leaking roof of Andrews Hall was replaced and some asbestos was removed from the interior thanks to funding from the same bond issue that financed the construction of the Martin and Snow Buildings. The summer of 2010 brought more renovations to the oldest standing dormitory on campus. All remaining asbestos, with the exception of some flooring, was removed and a new heating system was installed, including two new high-efficiency boilers.
Andrews Hall remains a staple of the campus after more than thirty years of use. Over the years it has seen many changes, such as conversion from double occupancy rooms to single occupancy rooms and the adaptation of the first floor to offices and storage spaces, but it still houses many NMCC students each semester.
Credit: Brian Hall June 3, 2011
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