After 44 years, Maine Adaptive, the state’s largest year-round adaptive recreation program, has a permanent home.

It has opened a headquarters at 125 Outward Bound Road in Newry, the former Outward Bound campus.

What began as a ski program in a small outbuilding at Sunday River Resort in 1982 has grown to include free and low-cost skiing, snowboarding, paddling, cycling, golf and other outdoor activities to disabled people.

Children ages 4 and older, adults and veterans with disabilities, train with the program with the goal of greater independence. A 96-year-old participated in the ski program at Sunday River in March.

For years, Maine Adaptive operated from a snug office in Bethel and the Sundance building at Sunday River, while bulky adaptive equipment was scattered among barns, trailers and volunteers’ properties. Two trailers of adaptive bikes are stored at the new campus, along with overflow equipment in the basement, where staff hope to build a bike maintenance shop for the organization’s more than 400 students.

The new property purchased in 2025 brings everyone under one roof, though significant work remains before they are fully open.

The property includes a 6,000-square-foot, two-story main building, nine 12-person cabins — two already winterized — and a passive house with a kitchen, laundry and showers.

Maine Adaptive Executive Director Lizz Peacock, an Outward Bound alum, said discussions about a permanent home stretched more than a decade.

“It has been about 12 years of conversations,” Peacock said.

Ten-year employee Brandon Merry, who is the organization’s senior program manager, described much of that time as “almost moving here, almost moving there.”

Two years ago, Peacock began discussions with Outward Bound officials about the future of the campus. A short-year bridge loan from an anonymous donor helped finalize the purchase. Maine Adaptive hopes to repay the bridge loan within three years through fundraising.

“These first couple of years, we are trying to figure out how we are going to use the space and do some basic accessibility changes,” Peacock said.

Plans for the supported access recreation campus include opening the first floor of the main building and improving accessibility throughout the campus.

Students have begun using the property. In November, participants gathered for a mono-ski fitting. In January, more than 100 people attended a Veterans No Boundaries camp featuring snowshoeing, cross-country skiing and indoor games.

Merry said the ease of the new “grab-and-go” space eliminates travel between borrowed locations and simplifies programming.

Communications coordinator Mary Scanlon and Peacock quickly rattled off names connected to Sunday River, Outward Bound, Gould Academy in Bethel and Maine Adaptive — organizations linked by a shared connection to the outdoors. Many from that network will be invited to tour the campus in June.

About 5.5 miles of trails lie a short distance from the main building. Designed for hiking, they are not yet fully accessible for mobility devices. Merry said he and Program Administrator Enock Glidden are evaluating what can be rerouted or modified, and signs are also planned.

Their goal is for the trails to become a gateway that gives students the confidence and access to explore other outdoor spaces in the Bethel area.

The weekend of June 13, students and volunteers will camp or stay in cabins during Mountain Center Adventure Days. Friday night will include a potluck meal, campfire and s’mores. On Saturday, participants will hike together.

“Trying to do a vacation or outing with a family member who has mild to intense mobility challenges is stressful,” Merry said. “It is a lot of planning just to go for a bike ride or a hike. To know this will be a place where, when they show up, everything is in place will make it more welcoming.”