Construction on the new Kate Furbish Elementary School is about halfway through. The building is scheduled for completion around August 2020. (Hannah LaClaire/The Times Record)
BRUNSWICK — Almost a year into construction, Brunswick’s new Kate Furbish Elementary School is “on track and on schedule,” according to Sarah Singer, school board building committee chairwoman.
Matt Pitzer of CHA Architecture (formerly PDT Architects) said they are just over halfway through the bond, and according to Singer, about halfway through the project. The $20.3 million pre-kindergarten through second grade school is slated to open its doors in 2020.
It is “incredibly exciting” to have a facility “that echoes the caliber of our teaching staff,” Singer said.
Rendering of the new Kate Furbish School. (Courtesy of CHA Architecture)
Voters approved spending up to $28 million on the school, but the project ultimately came in at just over $20.3 million. Ledgewood Construction from South Portland is the general contractor. Officials hosted a groundbreaking ceremony in October, although some excavation had already begun at that point.
There have not been any major construction setbacks and only minor tweaks to the plans, which is likely to happen on such a large project, Singer said Monday. The back wing of the school is the furthest along, where some sheet rocking, electrical work and plumbing has already been completed on the second floor.
“We’ve had pretty good reports all along,” she said. “We have really good people and it looks awesome.”
Kate Furbish School, covering an estimated 90,000 square feet, will hold 660 students, including a new pre-k program, a pilot for which will launch at the start of the 2019 school year.
There will also be a 1,000-square-foot “discovery classroom,” housed in its own building on the school site, with sinks, tables and storage space to aid in nature experiments, visiting art and science programs, presentations and other hands-on activities. The $450,000 building was a gift from Bowdoin College, the school announced in May.
The school is on the same site as the former Jordan Acres School, which closed in 2011 due to structural problems. It will replace the 62-year-old K-1 Coffin Elementary School, though the district has not yet determined what will happen to the Coffin school after it closes in 2020.
The new school is named after botanist Catherine Furbish, who devoted over 60 years of her life to classifying and illustrating the native flora of Maine.
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