FARMINGTON — Town officials took a tour of a new wing at Mt. Blue High School on Monday, as the $60 million renovation and expansion project continues.

Work began last November to integrate the school and Foster Technology Center and is expected to take three years.

Fire Chief Terry Bell and Code Enforcement Officer Steve Kaiser went over the wing at the site formerly occupied by Foster Technology Center, David Leavitt, director of support services for RSU 9, said.

The concrete floor is not curing, Leavitt said. He wanted them to go over, with him, the progress made and the life safety needs of the building required by the town and Fire Department.

They’ll meet again Aug. 18 and hopefully be at a point where the occupancy certificate can be approved, he said.

The new wing with 10 classrooms and nine mobile classrooms surrounding it will augment space for the grade nine through 12 students while construction continues. The school gym and library have been closed off as workers remove the gym roof.

The mobile classrooms have earned a nickname, Condo City, Leavitt said. The mobile buildings, two from Mallett School, have been gathered together and sit in the future site of the school’s new tennis courts.

The new wing flooring has radiant heat which will help dry the concrete out once school begins, but Leavitt said the floors would not be tiled till probably Christmas and February vacations.

During the recent hot weather, the parking lot was a dust bowl but Monday night rains turned it into mud Tuesday. An E.L. Vining crew worked to install light pole bases in the parking area before leveling the area and adding gravel this week.

Piles of dirt and gravel surround the site as some portions of the school come down and others go up. 

“Everyday it changes,” Leavitt said, pointing to one tiled floor that wasn’t there Monday.

About 150 construction workers are on site every day with many of them local workers, he said.

A two-story wing will be added to the end of the new wing, toward Seamon Road. Everything in the new wing is new except the concrete walls, he said. 

The 10 new classrooms will house some Foster programs again this fall, such as metal trades, forestry, building trades and culinary arts and others, he said. Teachers share a large room where their desks and materials will be located as they travel from one classroom to another.

Grades kindergarten through nine students will begin school Aug. 31, giving freshmen students a day to become oriented in their new school and the construction-based layout.

Grades 10 through 12 students begin school Sept. 1. The school intends to have walkways sectioned off for the safety of students as they walk from the mobile classrooms to the old section of the high school, he said.

The high school football team is holding Cougar Camp at Academy Hill School in Wilton this week and will continue to practice there when they restart practice after two weeks off. Space has been provided in the school for the players, Leavitt said.

[email protected]