FORT KENT, Maine — The owner of the Fort Kent Outdoor Center, which hosts events such as the U.S. National Biathlon Championships, is giving the facility to the center’s local board of directors at the start of the new year.
Pineland Farms of New Gloucester, which is owned by the Libra Foundation, a charitable organization based in Portland, announced Friday it is transferring ownership of the outdoor center in northern Aroostook County to the local governing body. The Libra Foundation has supported the center financially and with business guidance for nearly 25 years.
The Fort Kent facility includes more than 25 kilometers of trails used for year-round sports such as cross-country skiing and mountain biking. It also includes a biathlon range and stadium.
It’s the second outdoor recreation facility in the region the Libra Foundation has dumped in the past week. The organization announced last week it was closing the Nordic Heritage Center in Presque Isle because of declining use and operating costs.
Unlike the Presque Isle facility, the Fort Kent center will remain open.
The local nine-member volunteer board of directors was not surprised by the gift. Board member Carl Theriault said the Libra Foundation’s model is to start enterprises and, over a certain period of time, turn them over to new ownership.
“They’re like a seed generator,” he said. “They’ve gotten into the cattle industry. They’ve gotten into the potato industry. They got into the milk and cheese industry, and they’ve also turned those over after some period of time.”
Theriault said that Libra and Pineland Farms, a business center and recreation area, have been helping the Fort Kent center with insurance and taxes, and also providing guidance to the board. They would have a representative meet with the board monthly, either in person or remotely. They would also contribute to capital improvement projects.
Theriault said this assistance amounts to roughly $50,000 annually. The center, on average, sees about $150,000 in annual expenses and revenues.
In order to fund the center moving forward, he said the board, which is a nonprofit organization, will be starting an endowment to help with the programming and training it does.
“Nothing will be funded by the town,” Theriault said. “It will all be funded by our operations.”
The center has one employee that does coaching and venue management. Theriault said all other work is volunteer. He said roughly 25 volunteers regularly work at the center, but during major events there can be up to 80 volunteers.
Some of the funding for the center going forward will come from donors and investors, he said.
The transition will not result in any significant programming changes.
“There was never any question from Pineland or Libra about how we were doing things,” Theriault said. “We’d have discussions about it, and they would give some input, but the decision was always ours, which way we’re going to go with it.”
Without their support, Theriault said the board would not have been able to reach this point.
“We’re tremendously indebted to the Libra Foundation for bringing this facility to our community,” he said. “We could never imagine doing this on our own 25 years ago when we started it, and they’ve just been graciously supportive of us for so many years. So it’s with deep appreciation that we make this transition.”
