Regional School Unit 10 Superintendent Deb Alden speaks at Thursday’s topping ceremony for the new Mountain Valley Community School on Highland Avenue in Mexico. “Boy oh boy, do we need positive things to happen in this building, and we will make them happen,” she said. Standing with the two beams signed last month by 800 students are architect Stephen Fraser, left, of Harriman of Portland and Geoff Mitchell of Landry/French Construction of Scarborough. Bruce Farrin/Rumford Falls Times

MEXICO — Two large beams were lifted into place Thursday at the $92 million Mountain Valley Community School, marking a milestone in construction by Landry/French Construction of Scarborough.

Regional School Unit 10 administrators, school board members, Mexico and Rumford officials attended the “topping ceremony” at 58 Highland Terrace. The two beams were signed last month by 800 RSU 10 students in grades kindergarten to eight. Those students, from Meroby Elementary School in Mexico and Rumford Elementary School, will move to the new school when it opens in late 2025 or early 2026. .

Stephen Fraser, architect with Harriman of Portland and a 1988 graduate of Rumford High School, talked about the history of the ceremony.

“It goes back about 700 years to Scandinavians and Native Americans, who both had a history of putting trees on top of their buildings,” he said. “And when steelworks started in this country about 120 years ago, both Scandinavian people came over to do steel work and Native Americans from the Quebec area as well.”

Geoff Mitchell, project executive of Landry/French Construction, said that after the Scandinavians started it, it migrated around the world. “The Northern Europeans would do the tree and the flag, and the Netherlands would hang a flag on the building, and they would wait until the owner gave them food and beer before they went back to work. I don’t think we’ll do that here today.”

“This is definitely a milestone, Mitchell said. “It will be a center for learning and it will be a hub for the community.”

RSU 10 Superintendent Deb Alden thanked the workers for keeping the project on schedule.

Construction workers, officials and others watch Thursday as one of two steel beams is lifted to the top of the new $92 million Mountain Valley Community School at 58 Highland Terrace in Mexico. Last month, 800 Regional School Unit 10 students in grades kindergarten to eight signed two beams that were used for the ceremony. Bruce Farrin/Rumford Falls Times

“And what an important project you folks are working on,” she said. “This is a school for 1,000 students, pre-K through eight. When I think about what a beam topping is, one of the things is to show that you’re topping off, and positive things are going to happen in that building.”

She said the beams were placed at the corner of what will become the fourth and fifth grade wing.

Dustin Willett, project manager for Landry/French Construction, talked about the particulars of the building and the site. “Where you’re standing now used to be about 15 feet lower. We’re basically at 147 working days and now we’re doing the topping off and almost at the end of the structural steel.”

He said there are 1.3 million pounds of steel in the building. “There’s about 6,000 individual pieces of steel, and of course, they have to be bolted, so 20,000 to 30,000 bolts easy, and from experience, that’s a heck of a job. It holds 190,000 square feet. Things are going great.”

Workers prepare to place a beam Thursday at the top of the $92 million Mountain Valley Community School at 58 Highland Terrace in Mexico. The topping ceremony marked a construction milestone. Last month, 800 Regional School Unit 10 students in grades kindergarten to eight signed two beams that were used for the ceremony. Bruce Farrin/Rumford Falls Times

Willett said Landry/French is also holding a food drive for the local food pantry. People can donate by visiting the long gray trailer with the Landry/French sign inside the fence at the rear exit at nearby Mountain Valley Middle School.

“We like to try to give back where we can,” he said. “We’re going to be here for a couple years. It would be nice to donate a bunch of food and help those who are in need.”

Following the ceremony, workers and visitors attended a barbecue in what will be the gymnasium.

BY THE NUMBERS

$92 million: Cost of the school

1,000: Students who will attend

1.3 million: pounds of steel used

6,000: pieces of steel used

20,000-30,000: bolts used

190,000: square feet of space