Regional School Unit 1 is hammering out design details for a new Morse High School and vocational school in order to be ready for a possible referendum in November.
According to Superintendent Patrick Manuel, the new building will be nearly 186,000 square feet. The total cost has yet to be determined, but will be decided on by the school board, the state and, ultimately, the voters.
“The school board, at the end of August, will be voting on the whole entire thing — the design, the square footage, the money — because we go to the State Board of Education in September to be approved for a November referendum,” said Manuel.
The district wanted a referendum sooner, but needed more time, Manuel said.
“We didn’t want to rush the process,” he said.
The Bath City Council voted at its last meeting to extend the option agreement with the district for the Wing Farm business park property that the school will be built on for an additional year to allow the project to continue moving forward. The nearly 43-acre Wing Farm site was approved by the State Board of Education in May.
Manuel expects that the district will
remain on target for opening the school in the fall of 2020. Meanwhile, planning continues with Lavallee Brensinger Architects on the building’s design.
“We’re starting to get into what will the outside materials consist of, and what will the floors and the walls and the inside consist of,” said Manuel. “So we’re kind of getting into a little bit more detail, which is kind of exciting and enjoyable.”
The building committee has also compiled a list of features for the new high school that won’t be paid for by the state and will need to be funded by local contributions.
The current list — which is not final — amounts to about $7.2 million in locally funded items. That includes $837,200 for a larger gym space, $1 million to cover half of a geothermal system and $1 million for “glass, exterior design, sustainability, more durable materials” and relocating a garage on Anchor Road.
Plans for the site and the interior can be found through RSU1.org.
nstrout@timesrecord.com
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