LEWISTON – Should a school be built on land that’s a golf driving range on College Street?

School officials want to hear from residents on what they think about the proposal to build a new Pettingill Elementary School where golf balls fly.

The city has an option to buy the 24-acre site. It’s about one mile from Pettingill Elementary School, Superintendent Leon Levesque said Friday. The State Board of Education requires local, public sentiment on the location before the city buys the land, Levesque said.

A straw vote on the location will be held at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 14, at the school.

A new school is needed because the building is too small, is too old and inadequate for today’s needs, Levesque said. One part of the school was built in 1929, the newer wing was added around 1955. The school has inadequate parking, inadequate bus drop-off spots, inadequate security, inadequate handicap facilities. Plus, the library is in a portable building and classes are held in the basement, Levesque said.

State funding for the new school has been approved, with state officials calling Pettingill “one of the neediest schools in the state,” Levesque said.

At Wednesday’s meeting the public will be given a presentation about the proposed school and projected square footage of the building, parking and playgrounds. If approved in public referendum, the new school would open in the fall of 2009.

– Bonnie Washuk

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