ROCKLAND, Maine — The board that oversees the region’s vocational school voted Wednesday night to create a committee to develop a design for a new building that could cost more than $25 million.
But before the committee looks at a new building it will determine whether the school’s current organization is the most efficient way to provide vocational education.
The vote came after a 90-minute presentation by Ron Lamarre of Lavallee Brensinger Architects of Manchester, New Hampshire, and Charlestown, Massachusetts, about the need for a new school. The estimated cost for a 90,000-square-foot complex is $25.5 million.
Lamarre said a thorough inspection of the current Mid-Coast School of Technology building in Rockland determined that it made more sense to build new rather than renovate. The current building has major structural defects from the foundation to the roof. Engineer Paul Becker said the building has reached its tipping point in that it will cost more to renovate than to build new and that in the end “you will still have an old building.”
The study also recommends that the new building be located at the current site on Main Street at the Owls Head townline.
Some people at the Wednesday night meeting said, however, that the current location was not the best one for a school.
Instructor Josh Gamage said more elbow room was needed than the current site provides. He suggested a location on Route 90 that would be more centrally located to the communities served by the technology school.
Board member Tori Manzi of Camden said she felt the building was being rushed and that more community input was needed. The current site was out of the way, she said, and any new school should be closer to the Five-Town CSD in the Camden-Rockport area and RSU 40, which serves the communities of Waldoboro, Warren, Union, Friendship and Washington.
The technology school provides technical and career education for students from Vinalhaven, North Haven, Islesboro, Oceanside High School East in Rockland, Oceanside High School West in Thomaston, Camden Hills Regional High School in Rockport, Medomak Valley High School in Waldoboro and Lincoln Academy in Damariscotta. There are 487 students served both at the facility and in cooperative programs at the sending schools.
The committee should be able to complete its work within 12 to 18 months said board member Kim Appleby of South Thomaston. The makeup of the committee will be decided by the board at its March meeting, Bourrie said Thursday. That panel then would schedule its first meeting, he said.
Camden board member John Lewis proposed, and the full board agreed, that the new committee would look at the governing structure of the regional vocational system to determine if it was the most efficient. The current region is overseen by a board of directors that is independent of the school districts that send students.
Lamarre said if a different site were selected it would need to be at least 10 acres. He said the cost of purchasing and developing a lot could be offset by selling the current school property. An appraisal about 10 years ago estimated the value of the buildings and seven acres at $1 million.
The 57,000-square-foot building was built in 1968 as a marine repair shop and storage building. The Region 8 Cooperative Board purchased the property in 1976 and the vocational center opened for students in 1977.
The proposed timeline in the Lavallee Brensinger report calls for a referendum in all the communities served by Region 8 in June 2016. Construction could begin in the spring of 2017 and the building could be completed in time for the opening of school in September 2018. A decision on a referendum would likely not be made until after the new committee issues its report.
State funding for the project is uncertain. The report points out that the last time applications were filed with the Maine Department of Education, the Mid-Coast School of Technology did not place within the top 30 programs considered for state aid. About five schools are added every two years to a list of schools slated for state-funded construction projects.