JAY — The RSU 73 Facilities Subcommittee reached a consensus Wednesday to recommend that Bunker & Savage Architects do a building analysis and feasibility study on both district high schools.

The recommendation for the $30,500 study will go to the full Regional School Unit 73 Board of Directors at 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 11, at the Superintendent’s Office in Livermore Falls.

Committee members toured the Spruce Mountain High School North Campus in Jay and had previously toured the South Campus high school in Livermore Falls prior to making a decision.

The Jay school was built in 1969 and is valued at an estimated $12.3 million. The Livermore Falls school was built in 1967 with an addition built in 1982 and has an estimated value of $6 million.

The Augusta firm’s study will include building inspections and analysis on code requirements, energy efficiency environment and costs.

The study is proposed to give the committee and entire board facts and costs to base a decision on what is the most viable option for the buildings and students.

The Jay, RSU 36 Reorganization Planning Committee that put the consolidation plan together strongly recommended that the Livermore Falls school be closed and all high school students attend the Jay school.

The study would guide the board on what is the best educational move for students, Superintendent Bob Wall said.

“We need to determine what is the most efficient way so we are not spending so much money on heat and spending more money on kids,” he said.

The committee is also exploring options to keep the gym section of the Livermore Falls Middle School open for the winter without putting in a new heating system for that section estimated to cost $160,000 and not draining the pipes at a cost of $3,000 and potentially ruining the heating system in the school. If that is done, then the board would have more time to determine what it wants do with the school. The budget to decommission the middle school is $80,000.

[email protected]