SANFORD — The first thing you notice about the new Sanford High School and Regional Technical Center is just how big it really is — so big that to show the sheer  enormity, it would be best photographed from the air.

The second thing you notice is how much the new school will be able to offer in its 330,000 square feet of space. To put that amount in perspective, the building itself encompasses 7.6 acres.

On Tuesday, Sanford School Superintendent David Theoharides led a tour of the new school for about a dozen area realtors, who say they get a lot of questions from prospective home buyers about the school system, as well as other city attributes.

Realtor Arline Fortier explained that realtors often take clients on tours of the current Sanford High School and the city’s other schools, medical facilities, religious institutions and additional community assets.

“You’ve got to sell Sanford before you sell the house,” she said.

Realtor Brian Toth agreed.

“We’ve got to know what it offers,” said Toth of the new high school.

They got a complete picture of the progress of the project including a drive round the entire property showing the location of various natural grass sports fields and of the artificial turf football field, all in various stages of completion. The building itself is also a work in progress, but is expected to open when it is supposed to, in August, with the first students walking through the main entrance in September.

Students will be the only ones just walking in. Others who come by the school during regular hours will be able to walk into the entry, but will then encounter a locked, secure door system that requires someone to unlock it before they can proceed to offices. There is a separate, after hours entrance near the Performing Arts Center and for other rooms typically used outside regular school hours.

The new school is built for 1,800 students, said Theoharides — Sanford’s own 1,100 to 1,200 students and the remainder from the seven other school districts that send students to the regional technical center. It sports four educational  “pathways.”

One pathway is business and marketing and includes culinary arts, baking and pastry, an Academy of Business, computer systems program, landscaping and horticulture, cosmetology and a restaurant, which will be run by students and open to the public for several meals a week. As well, said Theoharides, bids are going out for a bank to locate inside the building, which would be run by bank staff, with students learning the banking profession.

The science and technology pathway includes auto technology, building trades, electrical wiring, engineering and architectural design, precision manufacturing, welding and metal fabrication, engineering applications with robotics and more.

The arts and communication wing includes video production, digital design, music, art, theater and drama.

The health and human services pathway includes early childhood occupations  education, emergency medical services technology, law enforcement technology, fire science and health occupations.

Roughly 90 percent of the cost of the $103 million school is borne through the state’s school construction fund. About 10 percent  is borne by the community, which voted to pay for some additional features not covered by the state fund — including a 900-seat performing arts center — a first for the Sanford community, noted Sanford Community and Adult Education Director Allen Lampert. The performing arts center will feature not only school performances, but others, as well, including musical performances and plays for the entire community. The School Department plans to hire a manager  for the center, which will also be available to rent, said Theoharides.

To equip the performing arts center with items like a grand piano, supply educational equipment for some programs and items like scoreboards for athletic fields, the Sanford Schools Legacy Foundation has been established. The foundation has outlined opportunities for naming rights for various aspects of the school from the $500,000 level to the $25,000 level. 

A number of local and regional companies are represented on the building project, winning subcontracting bids for various services. The performing arts center will feature seats by Hussey Seating of North Berwick and the school’s concrete block was supplied by Genest Concrete of Sanford. New Hampshire-based Hutter Construction is the general contractor.

Clerk of the Works Richard Drapeau estimated 170 workers are employed daily on the project, which is located between lower Main Street near VIP Auto and Route 4 near Jagger Mill Road. He said most vehicles in the parking areas sport Maine plates, though some workers come from New Hampshire or Massachusetts.

As well as all the classrooms and other features, like a central library and smaller libraries in each wing, there will be plenty of athletic facilities — there will be a 1,200-seat competition gym, a practice gym, wrestling room, weight and cardio room, climbing wall, access to the Mousam River, 2,000-seat stadium and athletic fields, an eight-lane track, and tennis courts.

The building will feature lots of natural light, skylights and LED lighting, said Theoharides, which means that at times, the lights may not need to be operating.

The building will be heated by natural gas. As well, some parts of the school will be air conditioned,  and some parts will have a dehumidification system,  which is expected to cool rooms by about 10 degrees, Theoharides said.

The new high school is first of its kind in Maine, in that the academic and technology wings are integrated — unlike the current high school building, where the technology wing is separate from academic classrooms.

“We’re being looked at, from the governor on down, for the integration of academic and career and technical education,” said Theoharides.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or twells@journaltribune.com.