City officials, students, parents and teachers all grabbed shovels and dug dirt at a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday to celebrate the start of construction on Westbrook’s new middle school.

Scheduled to open in September 2010, the school is being built on 65 acres off Stroudwater Street and will include a gymnasium, an auditorium and athletic fields. The design of the building, done by Harriman Associates, is considered “green” because it will use geothermal energy for climate control, which is expected to save around $90,000 a year in operating costs.

Residents voted last year to approve the $29.4 million school and to authorize $4.1 million in local spending to pay for the auditorium. The estimated cost for the project is $33.7 million, with the state paying about $26 million.

To mark the start of construction, the American Journal asked a student, parent, teacher, coach, custodian, police officer and school officials what the new middle school will mean to them.

Sue Atwood, language arts and social studies teacher, Wescott Junior High School:

Right now, I teach in a portable classroom. Needless to say, on rainy days and snowy days, it’s a pain to go into the building. Being in a building itself, it’s going to be a whole different world. The technology we’re going to have in each of the classrooms is going to enhance the students’ learning. Right now, it’s a matter of finding an LCD projector. The classrooms are going to be bigger. I like to rearrange my classroom a lot and have students get into groups. It’s hard in such a small room, especially with the eighth-graders. They’re big. They trip over each other, frankly.

Deborah Rumery, neighbor, 533 Stroudwater St.:

I’m sitting at my kitchen window, and I can see it. If 60 some acres of beautiful land had to be built upon, I’d gladly support an educational building. It’s hard to see the big lots go, but If something had to go there, I’m happy to support a school. I think the building’s going to be a beautiful school. I think they worked hard to respect the contours of the land and to keep open space. As a neighbor, I appreciate that.

Jim O’Leary, assistant principal, Wescott Junior High School:

The primary piece is the building itself and the campus itself will add to the learning experience. The present building isn’t a plus; it’s a minus. As we had additional grades come into the building, we needed to find spaces. The design of the building was not an open-area concept. The open areas were supposed to be places where the teens could meet, but we didn’t have enough rooms. It’s very evident that using the open areas as classrooms does not add to the learning process. The new building will be designed in such a way that it will enhance learning and not hinder it.

Art O’Brien, baseball coach and teacher, Wescott Junior High School:

The facilities here at the present middle school are pretty, well, let me just say, aren’t the best possible. The baseball field here is badly in need of service and repair. It hasn’t been kept up very well. The base paths are full of rocks. It’s so bumpy you never get a true hop. There’s a place in the backstop where balls get stuck. The benches are substandard. The left field wall is portable classrooms. I’m not complaining. It’s the field we play on. I don’t think junior high students need a state-of-the-art field, but a playable one will be nice.

Penny Esposito, director of transportation, Westbrook School Department:

It will affect all of the bus routes. The junior high students on the north side of the city are going to have a longer bus ride, just like the students on the southern side have a longer ride now. It won’t make the buses more crowded. We’ll have students who walk to the new junior high, just like we have students who walk to the junior high now. It certainly is going to be a big project here in my office. It will take some time, but fortunately, we have that time to work on it and perfect it, before having to put it in place.

Molly Douglass, sixth-grader, Wescott Junior High School:

The old school is pretty dirty, and it’ll be nice to have a new school. We’ll have a new auditorium. I do band and drama, so it’ll be nice to be able to perform at the new auditorium. Sometimes the noise is distracting in the open-space classrooms. It will be easier with the walled-in classrooms. The quotes that they have in the classrooms will be neat. Sometimes, it’s just nice to think about what a quote means.

Michael Kucsma, business manager, Westbrook School Department:

The exciting thing for me is, I really see the building as being much more economical for the citizens of Westbrook to operate. We are using a geothermal heat source, rather than heating oil or natural gas. We’re pumping the water out of the ground, taking heat from that groundwater and using it to heat the building. The money we pay for natural gas and oil will be significantly reduced. To me, that’s a really big thing. It’s one of the items that’s growing out of sight. This will allow us to stabilize our operating costs for that building.

Mike Mullen, father of sixth-grader Emily Mullen:

I have an older daughter that went through the middle school. The original construction at the time was innovative, but after that it didn’t meet the functionality. My older daughter went three years and barely had a class in the regular rooms. I think it’s vital for the city. I hope that everything stays on track and on schedule, so Emily can have her graduation in the new school.

Steve Hanlon, middle school resource officer, Westbrook Police Department:

The one thing I do know that I heard today is pretty big. I spoke with the principal and we were discussing security issues, and the state-of-the-art of security we’re going to have is huge. That’s going to be a huge benefit. They’re going to have video surveillance and a panic alarm system. They hit the panic alarm, and it will lock all the doors. So, they’re immediately on lock down. That will certainly make it easier for me to do my job.

Barbara Kelson, custodian, Wescott Junior High School:

It will be a lot easier to clean because it’s new, and it won’t be falling apart like this one is. The rugs are falling apart, so they’re hard to keep clean. I’ve always worked on old schools, so it’ll be nice to have a new one. We’ve just got to make sure we keep up with stuff – the dust and dirt and making sure we get in the corners and stuff. It will be a lot easier because it’s not run down.

Greg Smith, chairman, Westbrook School Committee:

Obviously, I’m very excited that we’re going to have a new facility. Now that there’s heavy equipment working on the site, it’s more tangible. All of us who have been laboring on this project for many, many years now are thrilled to see that hard work bear some fruit. I had been on the site, and I’ve skied and walked through that land before, but being there last Thursday, looking back and seeing the canal – it’s going to be a spectacular setting for that kind of building. I think it will be something the community can be proud of.