IN-DEPTH | The city, the convent and the university: What happened?

A weeks-long investigation by the Biddeford Gazette reveals a million-dollar real estate deal, a 25-year option on a large parcel of riverfront land and a lack of disclosure that has fueled negative public commentary

By RANDY SEAVER | Editor

As tensions between the city of Biddeford and the University of New England continue to boil, new information about the school’s plans to convert a former riverfront convent into student housing has raised questions and concerns about transparency and accountability.

The St. Joseph’s Convent — nestled on a more than 20-acre parcel along the Saco River – was constructed by the Good Shepard Sisters of Quebec in 1987, after a larger parcel that now houses St. Andre’s Healthcare was split into two lots.

During an interview with the Biddeford Gazette earlier this week, a spokesperson for the Sisters said the Pool Road convent was intended to house and care for elderly clergy whose numbers were rapidly declining.

In an effort to remain financially solvent and with a goal to care for themselves, the sisters approached UNE to see if the school had any interest in purchasing the riverfront parcel.

According to both university and convent representatives, those discussions began nearly a decade ago – in 2017.

But in January of this year, when the city proposed a temporary six-month moratorium on development at UNE’s Biddeford Campus, which is located nearly two miles east of the convent – both the Sisters and UNE representatives cried foul, claiming the city’s move could put both institutions in financial peril.

Meanwhile, city councilors said they had no prior knowledge of the pending – and now known – past real estate transactions between UNE and Good Shepard Sisters of Quebec.

The Truth. The Whole Truth. And Nothing but the Truth?

During a Jan. 20 city council meeting about the proposed moratorium, Alan Thibeault, UNE’s vice president of operations, addressed the council saying their move caught the university “by surprise.”

Thibeault then spent several minutes talking about the university’s many benefits to the community. He said the six-month moratorium would hamstring UNE and hinder its ability to attract and retain new students.

The next speaker at the podium was Sister Therese Gauvin of St. Joseph’s Convent. Gauvin was accompanied by Sister Joanne Roy at the podium.

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Gauvin expressed grave concern about the impacts of the six-month moratorium. She said it could adversely impact a small and dwindling group of women who had dedicated themselves to community service as local teachers and social workers.

“This moratorium is devastating to the sisters – psychologically, physically and spiritually,” Gauvin said during her public remarks.

But what Gauvin did not mention during her public testimony is the fact that she, personally, had already executed at least two real estate transactions with the university.

A million dollars and a 25-year option for UNE

The first transaction between the sisters and UNE was the sale of an approximate five-acre lot with no buildings for roughly $1 million — finalized just months before Gauvin inserted herself into the public debate about the city’s then-proposed temporary, six-month moratorium.

 That 4.8-acre parcel was appraised by the city of Biddeford in 2025 for $115,800.

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Gauvin also did not mention or make any reference to another real estate transaction that she executed with UNE. That transaction gives UNE a 25-year option on the remaining large parcel of land: 23.7 acres.

The university’s option will not expire until May 16, 2049, according to documents the Gazette obtained at the York County Registry of Deeds.

Walter Alexander, the son of the late Marshall Alexander — who served many years as Biddeford’s harbormaster — said he was not surprised that both UNE and the Sisters kept quiet about their real estate dealings.

“When you go into a court of law, you are expected to raise your right hand and affirm that you will tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth,” Alexander said.

“I guess that rule for rigorous disclosure doesn’t apply when you offer testimony at the public podium in city council chambers.”

Both UNE representatives – including their senior attorney Ron Schneider – sat next to the Sisters in the back row of the council chambers, silent with arms crossed during the Jan. 20 council meeting.

No one from the university or the convent made any attempt to provide context for the council or for members of the public.

“When you go into a court of law,
you are expected to raise your
right hand and affirm that you will tell
the truth, the whole truth and nothing
but the truth. I guess that rule doesn’t apply
when you offer testimony to
the city council.”

— Walter Alexander, Biddeford resident

During the council’s debate of the moratorium, Councilor Jake Pierson asked City Attorney Harry Center to clarify that the moratorium would do “nothing to interfere with the sale of the convent” – located two miles away from the school’s campus.

“That’s right,” Center replied.

The UNE delegation and the Sisters remained seated and silent

The council voted unanimously to enact the moratorium. Moments later, this reporter asked Thibeault if he wanted to offer any further comment.

“No,” he replied, walking briskly toward the exit with other UNE employees.

A relationship without honest communication?

Several city councilors – including Marc Lessard, Council President Roger Beaupre, Dylan Doughty and Brad Cote – all said they knew nothing about the convent real estate negotiations with UNE until the city announced a potential six month moratorium.

“The university is constantly telling us that they want to have a productive and meaningful relationship with the city,” Doughty said. “How are you supposed to build a relationship of trust when one side is keeping its cards so close to its chest?”

A LEGACY | A plaque displayed near the entrance of St. Joseph’s Convent | Seaver photo

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Lessard, who has served on the council since the early 1990s, said he was disappointed to learn the new information.

“This is yet just another example of why there is a certain level of animosity directed toward the university by some members of the community,” Lessard said. “This stinks to high heaven, and please forgive the pun.”

Cote said he found it “offensive” that the university would plead economic hardship about a temporary six-month moratorium that is intended to give the city time to review zoning ordinances that have not been updated in a quarter century.

“That property [UNE’s Campus on Hills Beach Road] is worth roughly $82 million,” Cote said. “For them to cry foul and economic hardship is a real stretch.”

What Does UNE Say?

During an in-depth, hour-long interview earlier this week on UNE’s campus, Thibeault maintained that the university wants to have a productive and open relationship with the city.

When asked why he did not offer any clarification or context at the Jan. 20 council meeting, Thibeault said his “options were limited.”

“Three minutes at the podium would hardly be enough time to offer any clarification,” he said.

A few weeks ago – on March 11 – UNE President James Herbert sent an op-ed letter to area media outlets, expressing frustration about an atmosphere of “misinformation.”

“The public discussion has included anonymous attacks, misinformation, and reckless accusations circulating through social media and emails from untraceable and unresponsive sources,” Herbert wrote.

In that same media statement, Herbert acknowledged that the university bears at least some responsibility about public communication that is often mired in rhetoric and false accusations.

“Despite our best efforts, UNE has clearly fallen short in our communication efforts,” Herbert wrote in the statement.

This week, Thibeault also echoed that sentiment, saying the school needs to do a better job in ensuring open communication – even when addressing somewhat hostile public commentary.

Thibeault also stressed that the university has been open and transparent about its ongoing negotiations with the Good Shepard Sisters, pointing out that the university distributed a press release about the negotiations in November 2024.

That press release, however, contained no information or details about the 25-year option or the $1 million purchase of five acres from the Sisters.

NOTE: That press release was distributed on November 12, 2024 – roughly two weeks before the Biddeford Gazette was launched.

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Both Thibeault and Cheryl Wells – a representative from the Sisters – say they never intended to hide any information or mislead the public.

Both organizations confirm that it was the Sisters who first approached the university. They also confirmed it was the Sisters who wanted the 25-year option to give them flexibility for their future plans, despite what Sister Gauvin said from the public podium at the Jan. 20 council meeting.

Gauvin said at the public meeting that her organization was only months away from “finalizing their negotiations with the university.”

Gauvin asked the council to consider delaying the moratorium until the transactions were finalized, without mentioning the existing 25-year option.

Wells told the Gazette this week that it was the Sisters who first approached the university about a possible land sale.

“The university’s history and core philosophy perfectly aligned with the Sisters’ mission that was dedicated to service and public education,” Wells said.

“It is a partnership,” Thibeault said of the Sisters. “We have kept them informed, but never asked them to advocate on our behalf.”

Public fallout from the moratorium

Just days after the Biddeford City Council voted unanimously to enact a six-month moratorium on development at the school’s campus, a flurry of public commentary began circulating – all of which castigated Mayor Liam LaFountain and the city council for being “unfair” toward the university and for “disrespecting” the nuns who had dedicated their lives to serving the community.

The Gazette published no fewer than five of those letters and guest columns, each containing similar themes and writing styles.

Not one of those angry, sharply-worded complaints originated in Biddeford. In fact, at least three of those letters can be traced back to the family of Sister Joanne Roy who stood next to Gauvin at the Jan. 20 meeting.

One letter was written by Bernard Roy, a former Biddeford resident who now lives in Ada, Michigan. Another letter came from Roger Roy of Lyman, Maine.

Two other letters were published by the Gazette, both from Diane Snow of Cumberland, Maine. A quick look at Snow’s Facebook account shows that she is associated with several people who share the surname of Roy.

Mayor Liam LaFountain said he truly wants the city to have a good and productive relationship with the university, but a lack of transparency and accountability from the university is making that goal difficult.

“As we all work through a number of consequential and serious issues that will set the stage for the city’s future development, it is incumbent upon all of us to remain rigorously dedicated to the principles of transparency and open communication,” LaFountain said.

NEXT | A lack of communication from Biddeford’s Planning Department and the Saco River Corridor Commission.