Maine Celtics Announce Partnership With SMRT

MAINE CELTICS ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP WITH SMRT ARCHITECTS AND ENGINEERS

Local Architecture Firm To Sponsor “SMaRTer Together” High School Arena Design Campaign

PORTLAND, ME – The Maine Celtics today announced a new partnership with local architecture and engineering company SMRT.

The collaboration will include a new community initiative, called “SMaRTer Together.” The program will offer local high school students firsthand experience working in the world of architecture design and basketball. Area classes will participate in a design competition that aims to celebrate creativity and collaboration through the reimagining of a new fictional arena for the Maine Celtics.

“This is an exciting new venture for the Maine Celtics,” said Team President Dajuan Eubanks. “While there are obvious parallels between NBA basketball and STEM education, an architecture and engineering program is something unique for our team. We look forward to seeing the results.”

This challenge offers students an opportunity to learn the critical aspects of sports and arena design with one-on-one guidance from SMRT architects and engineers. Students will get a behind-the-scenes look at the current Maine Celtics arena and will meet with coaches and players to find out what is important to them as users of the facility.

"We cannot wait to see what the students create in this design competition," said Nick Vaughn, Principal and Director of SMRT's Education and Athletics practice. "We are proud to help provide an opportunity to connect these local students with the players, coaches and staff of the Maine Celtics while also providing a dynamic learning space for them to get inside the world of design and planning."

Over the course of three months, teams will enjoy a kickoff celebration, tour the arena, and build relationships with SMRT staff along the way. The project will end with a celebration event at the SMRT office in Portland, complete with gallery presentations of all team submissions, followed by attending a Maine Celtics game, where the winner will be announced at center court.

Schools and educators that are interested in learning more or participating in “SMaRTer Together” should contact Nick Russo with the Maine Celtics at nrusso@maineceltics.com.