WILTON — Approval of a renovation and addition to Mt. Blue High School and Foster Regional Applied Technology Center will come before voters in the Mt. Blue Regional School District on Sept. 15. The project is estimated to cost $63.5 million.

Sixty percent of the present building will be reused and 40 percent torn down and rebuilt, retrofitted and upgraded, Superintendent Mike Cornier told selectmen Tuesday night. New theater and performance spaces and classrooms are intended to become a learning center for students and the community, including Community College classes.

He said the walls in
the 40-year-old school have no insulation and the water and sewer
systems need upgrading. Plans are to connect to municipal water and
sewer.

The front section of the school will be heated and cooled by geothermal wells and the back portion will be heated by a wood chip boiler. Water for the school will be solar heated and small wind turbines will be added to the roof.

The alternative energy sources will serve as a teaching tool for students through monitoring the systems, he said. 

Athletic fields will be relocated and upgraded and tennis courts will be added, Cormier said.

The state will pay $60 million of the cost; the nine school district towns $3.5 million, Cornier said.

If the project isn’t approved, the Department of Education looks at the next school on its list of applicants, Cormier told the board.

With two school projects being undertaken, the high school and new elementary school in Farmington, the opportunity for bringing more local business to town could be an added bonus as contractors often hire some local crews or bring in workers who need to be housed, he said.

Wilton polls will be open from noon to 5 p.m. on Sept. 15 at the town office. Absentee ballots are now available at the town
office.

abryant@sunjournal.com