LEWISTON – By a vote of 32-0 Wednesday night, residents approved a concept design of a new Pettingill Elementary School after listening to a presentation about the project.

If ultimately approved by state and city voters, the new school would cost $22.27 million, with 97 percent of that paid by the state and 3 percent by Lewiston taxpayers, audience members were told.

The portion paid by Lewiston taxpayers would be $822,104. That would be paid over 20 years, and be in the school budget, said Superintendent Leon Levesque. It is not yet known what the exact impact would be on taxpayers.

As projected, it would cost $16.6 million to build the building, and $861,500 to buy the 24-acre site, which now houses a driving range.

The new school would be highly energy efficient. The building would be designed to get maximum efficiency from sunlight, and energy would be conserved by extra insulation and motors that use less electricity. The building would not include solar panels, which were ruled out in the project.

The new school would cost about twice as much as the new Auburn elementary school because it’s twice as large, officials said. Pettingill would house up to 624 prekindergarten to sixth-graders, taking some students who now attend the Montello Elementary School.

One side would include a music room, art room, the cafeteria and a large, regulation-size gymnasium that’s more than twice the size of the existing school’s gym, according to Jeff Larimer of Harriman Associates.

The other side would be two, two-floor wings. The lower floors would house grades prekindergarten to two, the upper floors grades three to six. There would be four classrooms for each grade.

The exterior of the building would be red brick with a stone-colored base. The main entrance would be marked by a pitched roof and welcoming arches, said architect Mark Lee.

Playgrounds would be in front of the building, and there would be a loop driveway allowing buses to easily drop off students.

There would be no sidewalks built out to the school, which would be about one mile away from the existing school. Plans call for children who live along College Street to be bused due to safety concerns.

Wednesday’s informal approval allows the Lewiston School Department to seek state approval, then schedule a citywide referendum in January or February.

As planned, the new school would open in September 2009.

– Bonnie Washuk