College introduces van to Coastal Studies Center

News in brief: Mid Coast-Parkview Health Services announces renovations

Mid Coast Hospital announced its plans last week for renovations on its Parkview Adventist Medical Campus, located on Maine Street about a mile from Bowdoin.
Construction work is scheduled to begin this fall and is expected to be completed in early 2018.
Mid Coast Health Services acquired Parkview Adventist Medical Center in 2015 after Parkview filed a petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Court in Portland. At the time, Parkview closed its inpatient services and walk-in clinic, and the former medical facility was renovated to house accounting and other non-clinical departments. Mid Coast operates a walk-in clinic in downtown Brunswick, but Mid Coast Hospital is located near Cook’s Corner, about four miles from Bowdoin.
The proposed $6.2 million renovations for the Parkview campus will include a 9,000 square-foot wellness center that will provide community health programs, like counseling, rehabilitation and education.
Mid Coast–Parkview Health also intends to improve outpatient services, increase primary care facilities, and expand its oncology practice to be integrated with MaineHealth/Maine Medical Center and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute of Boston.

News in brief: Town considers bus to Portland

The Brunswick Town Council will vote in the coming months on a proposal for a commuter bus connecting Brunswick to Freeport, Yarmouth, Falmouth and Portland.
The service would be run through Portland Metro Bus. A ride to Portland would cost $3.Senior Lecturer in Physics Karen Topp heard about the bus proposal due to her interest and advocacy for public transportation.
“I think students [would] be happy to have access to Portland,” she said.
Due to federal matching grant money, the proposal would cost about $50,000 for the first two years, after which costs would spike to $150,000 annually.
If the council votes in favor of the bus, service would likely begin in July 2017. A date for the vote has not yet been set.

News in brief

College introduces van to Coastal Studies Center

September 23, 2016

The Bowdoin College Coastal Studies Center—located on Orr’s Island about 14 miles from campus—will soon be more accessible.

Beginning this semester, the College will run trips to the Center every Friday when classes are in session. A van will depart from the Polar Bear statue at 8:30 a.m. and noon, and depart from the Center at 11:30 a.m.and 4:30 p.m. A one-way trip takes about 25 minutes.
Associate Professor of Biology and Director of the Coastal Studies Center David Carlon conceived the idea for the shuttle service.

“Just from my teaching experiences here, I noticed that there were kids who really wanted to come [to the Center] and didn’t have the chance to,” Carlon said in a phone interview with the Orient. “So I just thought we really should provide some kind of opportunity for all kinds of students to come out and use the resource.”

The shuttle service currently uses one 12-passenger van, although the number of vans that will ultimately be used depends on student interest. Carlon hopes the van system will allow more students to visit the Coastal Studies Center and he encourages students to make suggestions about the Center’s facilities.

“We’ll also listen to people and hear their ideas, what they think about the property, because it is a time [to think] about potential development. So I think now’s the time for people to say what they think and they would like out here,” said Carlon.

Steve Allen, the assistant director of the Coastal Studies Center, echoed this sentiment.

“We’d like to see [the Coastal Studies Center] be utilized more by both students and faculty at Bowdoin,” Allen said. “Right now it’s a underutilized area … not everybody from main campus has been out there. I think this will be a good way to start to get more people to get out there and experience what we offer.

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