LEWISTON – Voters have given their OK to a more expensive, slightly larger Farwell Elementary School project.

Fewer than 30 Lewiston residents turned out for a public meeting on the issue Tuesday night. In a straw vote, they unanimously supported the project.

The latest proposal calls for the old school to be torn down and a two-story, 53,125-square-foot building built in its place. The new school would have four extra-large classrooms, 12 regular-sized classrooms, separate music and art rooms and spaces for tutoring, conferences and special education. Voters could also elect to add a 3,395-square-foot middle school-sized gym.

The school would be set on 4.8 acres and would accommodate 425 students.

The entire project, including the larger gym, would cost $11.3 million.

Originally, Lewiston planned a $10 million project, with a 50,000-square-foot building set on 4.6 acres. That school would have accommodated about 400.

But the school system recently obtained a purchase option on a quarter-acre site next to the school, allowing the project to expand.

Under the state’s new funding formula, called Essential Programs and Services, the state would pay for nearly the entire project, Superintendent Leon Levesque told the audience Tuesday. The city would likely pay $33,500 over 20 years. If voters approved the gym, Lewiston would pay an additional $566,000.

The new funding formula is set to begin next year.

The new $11.3 million price tag now will go to the state board, whose approval is required, on Oct. 13.

School officials hope to have a full referendum on the project Dec. 7.