LEWISTON – Plans to build a new Farwell Elementary School will go to a second straw vote on June 7.
A state Board of Education building committee has signed off on the $9.5 million project, clearing the way for the next community vote, said Lewiston School Committee Chairman James Handy.
A community presentation of the building concept and design is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday, June 7, at the school.
In a February straw vote, 65 neighborhood residents favored a plan to tear down the existing structure and build a new school on the same 4.6-acre site. It would accommodate about 400 students.
In 2002, the Maine Department of Education named the 50-year-old Farwell school the 10th neediest in Maine. Ceilings, floors and doors need to be replaced; walls are cracked and need insulation. The building is overcrowded, with inadequate classroom, storage and kitchen space for the 327 students in kindergarten through grade six.
The state would pay $4.6 million for the project while Lewiston would pay $4.9 million.
“We’ve had architects working with the Farwell community to get a good representation and perspective,” Handy said. “That’s what we hope to be presenting at that next straw vote.”
Lewiston residents are scheduled to vote on a bond issue Dec. 7 to pay for the city’s share of the cost.
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