The state board unanimously approved both the design and budget for the $103 million facility, allowing calls for bids to go out this month. Eight general contractors have been prequalified to offer bid proposals.
A bid opening is set for March 23, and if all goes well, ground will be broken in June. The school is poised to open in September 2018.
The stateof the-art high school and technical center has been designed to educate students for the 21st century. It will replace a high school and technical center built in the 1970s and ringed by a dozen portable classrooms.
It is a heady time for Sanford and for some surrounding communities as well – Sanford Regional Technical Center accepts students from 18 communities in seven school districts.
“It has been such a long time coming, that I need to be (there) to really believe it,” said Rep. Anne-Marie Mastraccio, a member of the building committee, who attended today’s Board of Education meeting in Augusta. “I was on the school board when we added the first portable classroom, and that was around 20 years ago.”
Documents on file with the Board of Education show the school is designed to educate 1,015 Sanford High School students and up to 808 career and technical education students from the seven school districts.
The building will be on 130 acres off lower Main Street, roughly behind Sanford Manor and VIP Auto. It will consist of more than 300,000 square feet of learning space, accommodating programs ranging from advanced placement academic courses to career and technical courses such as horticulture and law enforcement.
The process to get to this point has been lengthy. Sanford was placed on the state’s priority list for new school construction in 2011, and number two on the approved list in January 2012. Site approval and concept approval came in 2014, and was approved by Sanford voters in a landslide vote, 2,311-688, in January 2015.
“This is stupendous for our community,” said Sanford School Committee Chairman Jonathan Mapes following the announcement of the positive vote last year. “This sends a very positive message for our zip code.”
The state’s portion of the $102.7 million project is slightly more than $92 million. Sanford taxpayers approved $10.6 million for add-ons such as bleachers and parking, lighting, turf upgrades and dehumidification.
“It’s exciting,” said Deputy Mayor Maura Herlihy, who is also a member of the building committee.
“I am confident that such a significant construction project will invite competitive bids, and I am looking forward to this spring when we put shovels in the ground,” said Mastraccio. “It really is hard to explain just how excited and pleased I am to have been a part of this whole process.
“Sanford deserves this new high school.”
— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or twells@journaltribune.com.
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less