A second info session with Q&A will be held at Memorial School in New Gloucester on Monday, July 22, at 6:30.
| Joanne Cole |
About 80 residents sweltered in the Gray-New Gloucester High School cafetorium on Wednesday evening for the first of two planned presentations on proposed facilities improvement projects in the works for MSAD 15.
The presentations center on projects to address air quality concerns across multiple district schools and conditions in the High School’s performing arts and kitchen and cafeteria spaces, athletics fields and gym.
The second, parallel community session and Q&A will take place in New Gloucester at Memorial School on Monday, July 22, at 6:30 p.m.
At the July 17 presentation in Gray, architects and engineers outlined proposed solutions, walking through and explaining their working sketches. School Board members provided context and estimated costs and impacts. The forum concluded with audience questions.
Opening the session, Superintendent Craig King described the projects under discussion as “not for next year” but rather “for the next 50 years.” Board Chair Penny Collins followed and spoke of the need to “reinvest” in the High School’s 60-year-old campus to meet students’ needs now and in the decades ahead. Collins cited the District’s commitment to provide all learners “high-quality indoor and outdoor facilities that meet academic, co-curricular, and other student service needs,” an element of the District’s Strategic Plan.
Then it was on to project details and costs.
Air quality improvements. Up first was air quality in the schools. The District has been awarded a $6.5 million Maine Department of Education grant to replace outdated and ineffective ventilation equipment and systems at Memorial School, Dunn School, the Middle School and the High School.
Engineers Don Bresnahan and Steve Ferguson of Building Infrastructure and Management Systems described collecting and analyzing CO2 levels in classrooms and investigating ineffective and outdated ventilation equipment in District schools. Some systems at the High School are nearly 50 years old, they noted.
New, more efficient and cost-effective systems will improve air quality and bring the schools into compliance with Maine law and applicable standards, the BiMS engineers said — all under advantageous terms for the District, thanks to the $6.5 million Maine DOE grant. Roughly half of the funds–$3 million–would be an outright grant with no repayment required. The $3.5 million balance would be financed at 0 percent for 10 years. The work has been bid and is shovel-ready, they said.
High School needs and proposals. Next up was a separate bond to tackle other issues at the High School. Built in 1962 with few substantial changes in the years since, the High School’s performing arts, kitchen and cafeteria spaces, athletic fields, and gym are overburdened and no longer adequate to meet the needs and uses of students and the community.
That was the conclusion reached by a 12-member committee composed of teachers, administrators, community members and school board members that built on prior work and investigated needs, took teacher, student and community input, and made recommendations this past winter and spring.
Among specifics on the needs side of the equation, Superintendent Craig King says the cafetorium does quadruple duty as lunchroom, performing arts space, study hall and meeting area. Seating spills into the hallway and onto the stage to accommodate students during the two lunch periods.
Because the cafetorium stage is needed for dining space during the day, it must be cleared after school for drama practice. GNG’s Patriot Players use it for 500 hours of drama rehearsals each year, says King. The building has no purpose-designed performing arts space for students or community groups.
Also not adequate for its heavy student use is the single below-regulation gym that is used for physical education classes, basketball and volleyball games and practices, pep rallies, concerts and other large gatherings. It cannot meet the demand, King says.
The current athletic fields also cannot handle the high level of interest and participation in outdoor sports, King says. Field hockey, football, soccer, baseball, softball, lacrosse, track and field, ultimate frisbee, and Unified bocce teams all use the fields, some of which are too small to be used for competition, according to King. In 1962, when the high school was built, field hockey, track, baseball and boys soccer were the only outdoor sports offered, board member Sam Pfeifle pointed out.
At the July 17 presentation, architects from Activitas and WBRC, Inc. explained how their designs would address these and other issues at the High School. They also described their process and spoke of scaling back their initial plans and ‘right-sizing’ what they are recommending.
Among notable elements:
- An auditorium with seating for 450 and a new, separate entrance, making the performance space self-contained; music and chorus rooms would be added. The cafeteria-kitchen would have new serving areas and more efficient point-of-sale set-ups.
- A second gym, regulation-sized for player safety and spectator seating, would provide space and flexibility for P.E. classes, multiple practices, and other activities. Lockers rooms would open directly onto the fields; bathrooms, concessions and parking would be added.
- Outside, fields would be re-oriented, baseball, softball and track and field areas improved, and a new synthetic turf field added, among other changes. Improved drainage, septic updates and additional parking are also in the mix.
With caveats that nothing is final and some calculations must necessarily be ‘back of the envelope’ figures at this point, board member Sam Pfeifle outlined a projected total cost estimate of $57,739,135. Of that, roughly $43.8 million reflects construction costs: about $12 million relates to the gym; the auditorium/arts/cafeteria/kitchen account for about $15 million, and the fields and sitework about $15 million.
An estimated $6 million for design and consulting services, permits and the like, and $8 million for administration and reserves for contingencies bring an all-in total to $57.7 million. If nothing in the plans changes, voters would be asked to authorize borrowing up to that amount, Pfeifle said; the District would hope to need and use less.
Pfeifle acknowledged that the costs are significant but also noted that the District’s bond debt is low compared with other districts: 1.6 percent of MSAD 15’s annual budget compared with a statewide average of 5.42 percent. Using highest estimates and doing all the projects—including the air quality improvements—would add a $4 million debt payment annually in the first 10 years of a bond, he said. A New Gloucester resident with a median home value of $350,000 would pay an additional $667 in taxes; a Gray resident would pay $770 more per year. Both are “back of the envelope” estimates, Pfeifle said.
The Q&A period brought questions and comments of all sorts, with concern about costs/taxes from some speakers and appreciation for the projects’ comprehensive scope from others.
Among specific questions: the timetable for the work, if approved (A: perhaps 24 to 36 months); whether the District considered applying for state school construction funds (A: That would be both a long wait and a long shot: Maine DOE emphasizes new schools that consolidate old buildings); and when the bond vote might take place (No date set yet).
The meeting wrapped with a reminder that a second, similar public meeting will take place at Memorial School, Monday July 22, at 6:30. Information will continue to be posted and updated on a bond section on the District website, MSAD15.org, Chair Penny Collins said, with FAQs and other project-specific details to come.
