GORHAM – As the opening day deadline nears, construction workers on the new Great Falls Elementary School in Gorham hustled Tuesday to install floor tiles, roll paint on walls and assemble classroom furniture.

School officials and the construction boss say they expect the $21 million elementary school on Justice Way, off Sebago Lake Road, would be finished in time to open on schedule, Monday, Aug. 29.

Groundbreaking for construction was in October 2009, and the work, which began in December that year, has been slowed with delays.

Construction superintendent Richard Collins of Davis & Hanscom in Steep Falls said this week progress fell behind schedule “from the get-go” when some subcontractors experienced a manpower shortage. While work caught up, more recently installation of flooring was delayed.

But, Collins was confidant Tuesday that the school is on schedule for opening day.

“I had brown hair when I started this,” said Collins, who lifted his cap. “Is it gray or white?”

“We have every expectation of opening on Monday, Aug. 29,” James Hager, School Committee member and chairman of its building committee, said Wednesday. “As of late yesterday (Tuesday), we’re on track.”

Gorham Code Enforcement Officer David Twomey said Wednesday he had already signed a 60-day temporary certificate of occupancy for the school, and that Gorham Fire Department was willing to sign it, too.

Gorham Fire Chief Robert Lefebvre said Wednesday afternoon that a temporary permit is being granted because some things haven’t been 100 percent completed yet, like sealing some pipes that pass through a storage room wall.

“It’s small stuff they’re working on,” Lefebvre said. “We don’t feel there are issues that prevent them from occupying.”

This week, Norm Justice, facilities director for Gorham schools and the owner’s representative for the new project, and Collins accompanied Deputy Gorham Fire Chief Ken Fickett, Assistant Code Officer Freeman Abbott, and Davis & Hanscom project manager Karen James on an inspection tour of the building.

Hager said items that needed to be finished included some work in bathrooms, door thresholds and sprinkler system modification. He said even all toolboxes would have to be removed before a certificate would be issued.

“We’re at the nitty gritty,” Hager said.

Similar nagging problems delayed the opening of the new Westbrook Middle School in early 2010.

Dave Lewis of PDT Architects in Portland was busy Tuesday checking a “punch list” looking for minor touch-up things – “the fussy items that need to be completed,” Lewis said.

Construction crews, who Hager said are laboring hard, might even be working Saturday.

“There’s a lot of pressure on everyone,” Hager said.

Gorham voters in a 2008 referendum approved construction of the school. Opening of the new facility allows the Gorham School Department to shift to three schools housing kindergarten through Grade 5. The other two are Narragansett and Village schools. Under the realignment, the overcrowded White Rock School, which had kindergarten through Grade 2, was closed.

Teacher and classroom supplies were packed up and stored more than a month ago. The realignment shuffles teachers, staff and bus schedules.

Jane Esty, previously administrative principal at Village School, is principal for the new school. Esty could not be reached Tuesday or Wednesday.

In Gorham, kindergarten along with grades 6 and 9 will start school on Monday, Aug. 29, and other grades on Tuesday, Aug. 30.

All Gorham teachers are scheduled to start on Thursday, Aug. 25. Collins said the teachers would be in awe when they see their new school.

“There’s a wow factor,” Collins said about when teachers will walk through the door of the new school.

The school, with three wings, features a geo-thermal heating and cooling system with the latest technology. The system is supplied by water in 60 wells drilled 400 feet deep below athletic fields.

A mechanical area inside the school contains a maze of pipes and pumps. It’s the “heart and soul of this puppy,” Collins said.

The school is framed with steel and concrete blocks and is a non-combustible building with brick exterior veneer. The building design takes advantage of an abundance of natural light.

School interior features include natural maple wood paneling, doors, benches and rails above wainscoting. “On millwork, they went all out,” Collins said.

Hager praised the quality of work.

“It’s quite a gem,” he said.

The school, designed for 550 students, sits on 26 acres of former farmland with an expanse of green grass with three athletic fields, a fenced-in pond and a playground.

“A beautiful site,” Collins said.

In recent days after construction workers have left, children have already tried out the new playground equipment, Collins said, and parents have come in to view the school.

“They’re all smiling,” said Collins who enjoys the reaction. “It’s very rewarding.”

“There’s a lot of excitement in the community,” Lewis said.

Updating the Town Council last week, Gorham School Committee Chairman Dennis Libby commented on the beauty of the school. But, Libby told the council, installation of flooring had been delayed because of a change in the flooring manufacturers’ guarantee requirements regarding humidity in the concrete slab.

Dehumidifiers and air conditioning were deployed to further dry the concrete in the school. Workers wearing kneepads were cutting and placing flooring tiles Tuesday.

“While this has been an inconvenience for our moving into the building, it is a hurdle we will cross,” Libby told the Town Council. “This has delayed the completion of the school, but we do have a schedule in place that will still allow us to open school on time, unless there is another unforeseen delay,” he said.

Some families have already discovered the new Great Falls School
playground as they visit the school after work hours to check out
the progress of the construction. (Photo by Rich Obrey)