From concept to construction! We’re thrilled to see the Acadia Gateway Center finally coming to life.

Expected to open in May 2025, the Center will serve as a location where visitors can plan their trips through Acadia, purchase park entrance passes, and board the Island Explorer.

Construction began last year on the west side of Route 3 in Trenton, in front of the existing maintenance facilities and offices for Downeast Transportation. When complete, the facilities will include an 11,000 square-foot building with regional tourism and park information, restrooms, and an Island Explorer transit hub along with a parking for 250 cars.

Read more about the background and goals for the Acadia Gateway Center.

10/3/24: Solar Panels

Progress in early October shows a more-complete building and solar panels installed on the roof.

Exterior of the construction progress at the Acadia Gateway Center in Trenton, with solar panels installed on the roof. (Photo by Julia Walker Thomas/Friends of Acadia)

9/18/24: Update at Ellsworth Chamber of Commerce

At a breakfast hosted by the Ellsworth Chamber of Commerce, John Kelly, management assistant for Acadia National Park, along with Tony Cameron of the Maine Tourism Association (MTA), outlined what it has taken to get to this point and what they think the future of the new Gateway Center will look like.

“This idea,” said Kelly, “first came about in 1992 through the park’s general management plan, which is equivalent to a town comprehensive plan. It gave us direction for a 20- to 30-year period and beyond, and it first identified the need for an alternative transportation system, because even back then — imagine that — we were still dealing with huge amounts of traffic and parking congestion.”

Read more via the Ellsworth American: Acadia Gateway Center on track to open in May

The new Acadia Gateway Center will feature high ceilings and timber framing. (NPS photo)

5/17/24: Partners Get a Tour

MaineDOT and construction contractors Nickerson & O’Day of Brewer, ME, are making major progress at the new Acadia Gateway Center in Trenton, just off Rt. 3! On Friday, May 17, several project partners got an inside look.

Leaders from Friends of Acadia joined our partners at Acadia National Park, as well as representatives from Downeast Transportation, Maine Office of Tourism, the Maine Tourism Association, and MaineDOT for a tour of the building and grounds, and a discussion of future operations.

The Acadia Gateway Center is expected to open in the Spring 2025 and will be a hub for visitors to plan their trips and board the Island Explorer bus, easing traffic in the park and on Mount Desert Island and providing an improved visitor experience.

The center incorporates several sustainability features, including a geothermal heating and cooling system, a rooftop solar panel array, and electric vehicle charging stations.

This project has been decades in the making and it’s so exciting to see it coming together. It’s really an impressive space! Friends of Acadia donors who’ve supported this work can feel incredibly proud. In addition to private support from Friends of Acadia and public support from MaineDOT, the National Park Service, the Federal Transit Administration, and Efficiency Maine are also providing funding.

Enjoy these updated photos from our May 17 tour:

Members of the Management Team from Friends of Acadia and Acadia National Park visit the Acadia Gateway Center in Trenton, Maine on May 17, 2024. (Photo by Julia Walker Thomas/Friends of Acadia)

Members of the Management Team from Friends of Acadia and Acadia National Park visit the Acadia Gateway Center in Trenton. (Photo by Julia Walker Thomas/Friends of Acadia)

Acadia National Park Superintendent Kevin Schneider, left, looks over construction plans of the Acadia Gateway Center in Trenton. (Photo by Julia Walker Thomas/Friends of Acadia)

Members of the Management Team from Friends of Acadia and Acadia National Park pose together at the under-construction Acadia Gateway Center. (Photo by Julia Walker Thomas/Friends of Acadia)

2/21/2024: Framing is up!

The Acadia Gateway Center is shaping up – literally. Framing for the structure is now up, and passersby can get a better sense of what the Center will look like.

Construction of the Acadia Gateway Center in mid-February 2024. Photo by John Kelly/NPS

Construction of the Acadia Gateway Center in mid-February 2024. Photo by John Kelly/NPS

Construction of the Acadia Gateway Center in mid-February 2024. Photo by John Kelly/NPS

Construction Coverage

Acadia Gateway Center on track to open in May – Ellsworth American

New builds: A range of construction projects are in the pipeline – MaineBiz

If They Build It, Will They Park? – Bar Harbor Story

New Acadia visitor center starts to take shape – Bangor Daily News

Background and stories from Friends of Acadia

May 24, 2023: Construction Begins on New Acadia Gateway Center!

March 29, 2023: Acadia Gateway Center Construction to Start this Spring

March 11, 2023: Construction Bids Solicited and Groundbreaking Planned for Spring

This project has been a priority for Friends of Acadia since 2004 when the organization purchased an option on 369 acres in Trenton — the future site of the Gateway Center — while MaineDOT completed an Environmental Assessment. Friends of Acadia then purchased the property in 2007 and sold the easternmost 152 acres bordering Route 3 to MaineDOT for the purpose of developing the Center and mitigating associated wetland losses.

Friends of Acadia retained the remaining 217 acres in tree growth tax status and built the Trenton Community Trail with technical expertise provided by the National Park Service’s Rivers and Trails Conservation Assistance Program. We then granted a conservation easement to Maine Coast Heritage Trust on the remaining land and donated the parcel to the Town of Trenton. MaineDOT and partners inaugurated the Island Explorer maintenance facility and Downeast Transportation offices on-site in 2012.

The design of the visitor center and transit hub went through several revisions over the years to improve efficiency, lower construction costs, and incorporate new technologies. The majority of the estimated construction costs will come from the Federal Transit Administration. The National Park Service (NPS) has contributed $4 million in Centennial Challenge funds, matched and exceeded by transportation bonds and other funds provided by MaineDOT.

Friends of Acadia has pledged $1 million from the Acadia Experience portion of funds raised as part of the Acadia Second Century campaign. We have also pledged up to $225K for solar panels on the building to reduce environmental impact, as well as the long-term operational costs.
Many Friends of Acadia members have helped make the Acadia Gateway Center possible—from those who supported the initial purchase of the land to those who helped the Island Explorer expand, as well as those who contributed to the Greening Acadia Fund at the 2021 Benefit Auction that will help with the purchase of solar panels.

It’s truly time for a collective cheer as this long-lived project to improve visitor information and access to transit services comes to fruition!