AUBURN – Voters overwhelmingly approved a new elementary school with air conditioning and a larger-than-average gym, ending more than a year of controversy over the Lake Street Elementary School project.

School officials cheered and applauded Tuesday night as City Clerk Mary Lou Magno read the results.

“We got a new school!” shouted several building committee members in unison.

Voters approved the school 1,646-534, a ratio of more than 2-to-1. They also OK’d air conditioning and a middle-school-sized gym with a vote of 1,401-777. The air conditioning and gym were grouped in a separate second question because they’re extras and will be purchased without state help.

About 14 percent of voters cast ballots in the referendum, a good turnout for a special election, Magno said.

Connie Jalbert, a longtime Lake Street neighborhood resident, said she voted because she wanted to make sure Auburn got a replacement for aging Lake Street Elementary.

“I think it’s about time they take a step into the 21st century,” said Jalbert, whose grandchild attends Lake Street.

She liked the fact that the new school would accommodate children from kindergarten through grade six and would offer separate busing and walking areas. Although it would bump up project’s cost from $9.7 million to $10.4 million, Jalbert voted for a bigger gym and air conditioning because she thought they were needed.

“I feel it’s worth it,” she said.

Other voters weren’t so sure.

Larry Pelletier, a New Auburn resident, voted for the project but against the air conditioning and gym. He agreed the new school was long overdue, but didn’t think elementary students needed the extras.

“I thought it was more of a waste than anything,” he said.

Jason Lerman, a Park Avenue resident and father of elementary school-aged children, voted against the project completely.

He didn’t believe that officials had adequately considered safety, construction and tax issues associated with the new school, which will be located on Park Avenue.

“I think they’re trying to jump too soon,” he said.

Set on less than two acres in the heart of an old tree-lined neighborhood, Lake Street Elementary School has catered to area children for more than three generations. But with 145 students from kindergarten through grade three, the school has no art or music room, and no cafeteria or gymnasium. Outdoor play areas and parking places are limited.

Auburn applied for state funds to renovate the school in the late 1990s. It learned in 2002 that it would get that help.

Officials started negotiating with neighbors to buy a couple of acres around the building so it could the expanded. But some neighbors balked at giving up their homes. The school system spent months in heated negotiations in an attempt to get enough land to satisfy state requirements.

But last November, the state said the plan was too expensive, the site was too small and the project had too many constraints.

Officials began looking to build a whole new school.

Tuesday’s “yes” vote means the new, 44,000-square-foot school will be built on 10 acres on Park Avenue. The design calls for 17 classrooms, separate music and art spaces and a “hands-on” room for science experiments. It also sets aside space for a library, gym and cafeteria, and space for the English as a Second Language program and a speech and language program.

The state will pick up most of the cost. Auburn taxpayers will have to pay $635,000 for the gym and air conditioning on their own.

“It’s a really good deal,” said architect Steven Blatt after the vote. “If you don’t do it now, you’re never going to get it.”

Superintendent Barbara Eretzian said she was concerned voters wouldn’t approve the project until Magno read the results Tuesday night.

“We’re very happy we can move forward,” she said.

Auburn will now move forward with purchasing the Park Avenue properties it has options on. It will take bids for the site work in January and will start that work over the winter. It was to accept separate bids for construction in late spring and will start that work next summer. Officials hope to have the new elementary open by fall 2006.

“I think the whole state is going to look at this and say That’s the way to do a school,'” Blatt said.