LEWISTON — The School Committee took the first steps Monday night to expand and improve the Middle School.

The panel unanimously approved WBRC architects and engineers of Bangor to begin a five-month study on how the building should be made bigger and better.

School Superintendent Bill Webster said the cost will depend on what the community can afford, but guessed the project would be between $6 million to $10 million, if approved by the City Council.

“A new school of this size would probably be $50 million,” Webster said. “Across the state, schools built in the ’50s and ’60s are being demolished” while this one, built as Lewiston High School in 1930, will be improved. “They did build them better back then,” he said.

An expansion will have to be “up, or out somewhere, within the restrictions of what we have,” Webster said. That could mean expanding on fields or in the parking area. “I think we’re going to need a minimum of eight more classrooms, and that’s at 25 students per classroom.”

It was hoped state school construction money would allow a new middle school building, but last year the project ranked 30th, too low on the priority list.

Getting state money could take 15 years, Webster said. “We can’t wait that long, primarily because there’ll be over 200 more students in that building five years from now. We have no place to put them.”

With 750 students there now, the building is maxed out, officials said.

Because the expectation was that a new building would replace it, the only improvements done were anything absolutely necessary. “We have a very dated learning environment,” Webster said. “Not that a building itself improves education, but a better, brighter building will be a more supportive environment.”

One of the problems is the entry. When walking into the school there’s an empty lobby, a camera pointed at the visitor, and a sign saying the office is on the second floor.

“If you’re new to the school, you have no idea where to go,” Webster said. “It’s scary.” The office would be moved to the first floor, providing an inviting and safer lobby.

The building is not energy efficient, which means it’s often too hot or cold. The library does not meet today’s needs. The cafeteria is overcrowded. A new cafeteria could be built first as an expansion, freeing up space for more classrooms.

The interior is drab. “There’s a lot we can do inside to spruce it up and really cheer things up,” WBRC’s Senior Project Manager Stephen Pederson said. The lockers, which are original, are too small.

But, there’s a lot right about the old school. WBRC engineers raved about the building’s classical design, saying it has “beautiful bones.”

It has features too expensive to include in a new school today, such as terrazzo floors, a durable composite made of marble, quartz, granite and glass. The auditorium is in very good condition. And the building’s high ceilings mean there’s room to improve ventilation.

Just because something in the building is original, that doesn’t mean it has to be replaced, Pederson said. “We’re confident we can spend money most wisely to bring this school up to where it needs to be.”

WBRC would deliver its study in late winter or early spring. Pending approval from the City Council, construction bids could go out at that time, with construction beginning around June 2013, Webster said.

bwashuk@sunjournal.com

Copy the Story Link