AUGUSTA -- The University of Maine at Augusta is preparing to accept the donation of a downtown Augusta building.

For UMA, the Gannett Building at 331 Water St. offers additional space for the college's growing architecture and art programs, relieving those departments of the cramped spaces they occupy on its Civic Center Drive campus.

For the city, UMA's move downtown means another occupied building and more activity along the city's struggling Water Street.

"It's really got wonderful potential," UMA President Allyson Hughes Handley said. "We are just totally maxed out in terms of space here."

University of Maine System trustees gave conditional approval Monday to accepting the real estate gift, pending a more thorough analysis of operating costs and needed upgrades.

Owner Richard McGoldrick, a developer who owns five downtown properties including the Gannett Building, offered UMA the building earlier this fall after hearing about the college's space needs.

"I've made a lot of investments in downtown Augusta, and I'd love to give something back," he said. "I'm also a little self-interested to get more people in downtown Augusta."

The 25,000-square-foot structure's one tenant, the United Way of Kennebec Valley, will stay and continue to pay rent, Handley said.

Built in 1875, the building housed some KeyBank operations more than two decades ago as the bank awaited construction of its current Water Street building.

Handley said the structure has six usable floors.

University officials haven't formally decided which academic programs will occupy the new space, she said, but professors from the art and architecture departments have been most involved in planning for the downtown move.

The programs' current space allows students limited workshop space and no storage space, said Peter Precourt, an assistant professor of art.

"Students really need space to make the work, show the work, have discussions about the work," he said. "We have a fair amount of space limitations on the campus."

Handley said architecture and natural sciences students could be involved as UMA officials plan upgrades to the space.

The building will require a new heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system, she said, and science students could play a part in finding the most energy-efficient system. Architecture students, she said, might take part in designing classroom spaces.

"It would be such an interesting project for those students to be engaged in," Handley said. "I think there's some pretty amazing academic potential."

And once classes move into the Gannett Building, which could be as soon as summer 2010, Handley said, the downtown location will provide some advantages, including proximity to state offices and social service agencies.

For art students, Precourt said, the Water Street location could offer some important lessons.

"One thing you never learn in a lot of art schools is ... you don't figure out how to integrate what you do into the community," he said. "When classes stop ... people haven't figured out, 'How do I move in the world as an artist?'"

Augusta Mayor Roger Katz said UMA's downtown presence "will help energize our riverfront and will be an important piece in bringing renewed life to downtown."

McGoldrick told university officials the building's operating costs total $85,000 annually, including $11,600 in property taxes.

The assessed value is $695,000, according to city records. Handley said UMA has $560,000 in a special account that could cover many of the operating expenses.

But the nonprofit university would not have property taxes as one of its expenses.

"That's the one downside," Katz said of that lost revenue. "On balance, it's good for the city."

Matthew Stone -- 623-3811, ext. 435

mstone@centralmaine.com