WATERVILLE — Colby College plans to launch a hub for enterprise and creation that will honor the Levine family of Waterville whose members helped to build the city.

With a generous lead gift from the Bill and Joan Alfond family, the new Levine’s Discovery Headquarters will be housed in the Runnals Building on campus, according to college officials.

The building will be transformed into a modern 40,000-square-foot, technology-rich innovation headquarters and will reopen in fall 2027, according to a Colby news release. The community and discovery space will include flexible project rooms, maker spaces, offices and an adaptable open multipurpose central creative core.

“It will become a hub where students will explore new ideas and engage in projects supported by the Davis Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Colby’s various academic labs that encourage creativity, research and innovation,” the release says.

Students active in the center will be able to collaborate with community partners such as Dirigo Labs, a Waterville-based startup accelerator that will have dedicated space in the Discovery Headquarters. Students also will be able to collaborate with peers from other institutions of higher learning in the region.

The Levine family founded Levine’s clothing store on Main Street downtown, which was located most recently in the space where the Lockwood Hotel is now.

The Levines were known for a deep commitment to all aspects of civil life including in social, business and religious circles, Colby officials said. At 18, William Levine arrived in the United States from Poland, traveled to Waterville and opened Levine’s store in 1891. His sons, Lewis “Ludy” Levine, and Percy “Pacy” Levine, Colby graduates in 1921 and 1927, respectively, took over the store. Their sister, Dorothy “Bibby” Levine, who graduated from Colby in 1938, named her son William “Bill” Lee Alfond, a 1972 Colby graduate, after his grandfather.

The Discovery Headquarters is part of Colby’s historic $1 billion Dare Northward Campaign to transform and position the college as a leader in higher education and is a key component of Colby’s $500 million investment in innovation, science and technology, according to officials.

“We are grateful to the Bill and Joan Alfond family who have created this incredible opportunity for our students and community members to come together around entrepreneurial and innovative activities,” Colby President David A. Greene said, “where they will have the kind of space to foster, develop and showcase their ideas and work. This project is about working in partnership with the community to find solutions that are creative and enterprising.”

The Runnals building, named for Ninetta Runnals, a 1908 Colby graduate and the first dean of women, opened in 1939 as the women’s union and gymnasium and later became home to the college’s theater and dance community. The 2023 opening of the Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts now houses those activities, enabling Runnals to be open for new purposes.

The building will be used for community gatherings, large presentations and a workspace for large-scale projects and prototypes for the college and greater community, according to officials. The north side of the building will be rebuilt with a glass exterior wall.

Colby has invested more than $50 million in a variety of related initiatives that will form the programmatic foundation of Levine’s Discovery Headquarters. They include the Davis Institute, The Halloran Lab for Entrepreneurship, The Buck Lab for Climate and Environment, The Linde Packman Lab for Biosciences Innovation, The Lyons Art Lab, and The Bram Public Policy Lab.