LIVERMORE FALLS — Regional School Unit 73’s subcommittee on facilities and transportation began discussing the possibility of closing the Livermore Falls High School on Wednesday.

“We have on the table closing a building, the high school in Livermore Falls,” RSU 73 Superintendent Bob Wall told the committee.

The Livermore Falls school as of July 1 is known as Spruce Mountain High School South Campus.

The Reorganization Planning Committee that put the consolidation plan together for Jay and RSU 36 for the new RSU 73 school district had “strongly recommended” the new board close the Livermore Falls High School at the end of the 2011-12 school year. Students would go to Jay High School, now known as Spruce Mountain High School North Campus.

The Planning Committee recommended keeping all playing fields open in Livermore Falls, closing off the academic wing of the high school tearing it down, and keeping the gym, cafeteria and locker room sections open.

Bunker & Savage Architects of Augusta put together a proposal on a feasibility study on Livermore Falls and Jay high schools.

Part of the detailed study would be to look at pre-existing conditions of the two schools, mechanical and electrical components, code compliance, energy efficiency, educational programming and decommissioning of the building, architect Craig Boone of Jay said.

The firm would also include a cost comparison and costs associated with operating the schools so the committee could decide the option they would recommend to the full school board to pursue, he said.

The overall cost for the study is proposed at $42,500.

Part of the discussion on closing the school will be based on emotion and the other part needs to be based on facts, Wall said.

One option could be building an addition on Jay school to house all high school students, estimated to be about 500.

If the Livermore Falls school was closed, then the savings from the first year could be put toward an addition and the district could finance the rest, Wall said.

He asked committee members to pick out the parts of the study they believe should be done prior 5 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 3, meeting at the superintendent’s office. If some components could be done by the district, then the study cost would decrease.

Committee Chairwoman Cindy Young of Livermore said residents would want to know for sure if the high school has to be closed and or if there are parts that are usable before they make a decision.

Both Young and Director Darcie Comstock of Jay agreed that it was important to keep the fields open and not lose a gym. She asked if it would be a possibility to take down half of the middle school in Livermore Falls and leave the gym.

Residents in Livermore and Livermore Falls voted in April to close the Livermore Falls Middle School as of July 1. Students from those towns will attend Spruce Mountain Middle School in Jay this school year.

Director Tim Madden said the district doesn’t want to get to September and still have no plan for the middle school.

The committee will have to consider what recommendation they will make to the full school board on the closed school.

The district could decide to keep the facility, they could decide to keep and decommission it or they could decide to offer it back to the town, RSU 73 Assistant Superintendent Sue Pratt said. If the voters decide to take it, it is theirs, she said. If they don’t take it, the district will have the option of selling or demolishing it.

Honeywell Inc. has proposed that it could drain the middle school’s heating system among other work for $2,944 to decommission the school.

If the decision is to keep the gym portion, Honeywell estimates on the high side, it could cost $160,000 to install a new boiler and modify existing piping for the heating system.

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