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| Large parcels of land for sale, like this location off Hall Road in Windham may be considered by RSU 14 as potential sites for the State Board of Education to purchase for construction of the new Windham Middle School. RSU 14 hopes to have a site identified by October 2022 with the new school building finished by the fall of 2026. PHOTO BY ED PIERCE |
By Ed Pierce
After a careful review of an architectural study of Windham
Middle School, the State Board of Education has chosen to move ahead with construction
of a new middle school and a search has been launched to identify potential
sites for the new educational facility.
RSU 14 is now actively looking for 40-acre parcels of land
that are available for purchase and them would recommend to the State Board of
Education which one it would prefer to locate the new school. Because it is a
state-funded project, the school district will
work with the state to negotiate the project fees and a total cost associated
with the construction.
The new school is expected to be ready by the start of the 2026-2027 school year, said Christopher Howell, RSU 14 superintendent of schools.
“The district is
looking to narrow down potential sites by the end of this year,” Howell
said. “The target would give the district ample opportunity to conduct
environmental studies on a location. The final straw poll vote on a
potential site is tentatively scheduled for October 2022.”
The original Windham Middle School was completed in 1977 and was built for a capacity of 483 students. In the past year, that number has grown to 636 students, with sixth graders being housed for some classes at the adjacent Field Allen School, originally constructed in 1949.
In June, the RSU 14 Board of Directors voted 8-0 to approve
hiring the Lavallee Brensinger
Company of Portland to serve as architects for the project.
“Lavallee
Brensinger, our architect, is completing a review of existing engineering
studies that have been completed for the old middle school building,” Howell
said. “There appears to be enough documentation at this time to support a
new building for the district.”
In choosing a site
for the new school, Howell said the school district, in consultation with the
civil engineers on the project, will complete a matrix on all potential sites.
“The matrix will
include elements such as traffic, availability of utilities (three-phase power,
public water, sewer), environmental impact, proximity to population density,
and purchase price of the property,” he said. “Once a site is determined,
a public meeting will be held for a straw poll vote. The RSU 14 board will
use the recommendation to make a final vote that will be recommended to the
State Board of Education. The state will reimburse the district for the
property. The reimbursement will be based on the average of two
appraisals on the property.”
According to Howell,
both the architect and the RSU 14’s civil engineer will help the district with
the decision matrix, which will be presented to the public for a straw poll. The
results of that poll will be reviewed by the RSU 14 board for a final
recommendation to the Department of Education.
“In
addition to the decision matrix, the district will take into consideration the
long and short-term costs of siting a building on a location,” Howell said. “This
would include costs associated with student transportation, utilities, as well
as possible road and infrastructure upgrades that would be required for the
project.”
Other determining factors would weigh the impact to the environment, availability
of space for athletic fields/parking and in a location near an existing road
that can handle the traffic of a large school.
Howell said the most
interesting aspect of working on this project so has been the opportunity to
work with the state on a building project.
“The process has
allowed us the opportunity to look at programming across the district to ensure
that we are covering all aspects of this project,” he said. “The
opportunity to visit other recently completed buildings across the state has
reinforced how fortunate we are to have this opportunity.”
After several years of being ranked at Number 5 overall among
state-approved and subsidized construction projects, RSU 14 learned in March
that the project was moving forward.
RSU
14 first applied for the Maine Department of Education’s Major Capital
Construction Program in 2016 for funding for construction and was ranked as the
fifth-highest priority among 74 proposed school construction projects statewide
each year before gaining approval.
“The
program is highly competitive as a positive rating in the process can lead to a
significant financial savings for school districts,” Howell said. “A majority
of construction costs for school projects selected through this program will be
covered by the state.”
Once the school
district starts to narrow in on potential sites, it will begin work with the
architect on the conceptual design of the building.
“This process will
include revisiting some visioning work that has been already completed with
middle level staff,” Howell said.
The site selection
process will be discussed at the Oct. 6 meeting of the RSU 14 Board of
Directors and Howell said in the meantime, the public can forward any potential
site locations to him at chowell@rsu14.org. <
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