BANGOR, Maine — Bangor City Schools Superintendent Betsy Webb stressed this week there is “nothing extravagant” in the $10.82 million capital improvement plan the School Committee approved Wednesday for the system’s 11 buildings.
“It is repairing roofs, it’s ventilation, it’s paving, it’s just maintenance types of things,” she told the committee.
Director of Business Services Alan Kochis said they hope to complete all improvements within the next five years, with the first projects kicking off this summer.
But Webb said after the meeting the school system has never completed every project in a five-year capital plan within the prescribed time.
The plan does not specify how the school system will fund the improvements. Kochis said options include grants, low-interest and no-interest loans from the state, borrowing money through the city and including certain projects in the school system’s annual budget.
The improvement list that school administrators compiled by visiting schools and talking to staff, makes roof improvements the top priority.
Other improvements include removing asbestos floor tiles, adding security cameras and security features, ventilation improvements and access improvements to better comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act or ADA.
Under priority four at Bangor High School, the plan includes $90,000 to renovate locker rooms, replacing floor tiles and missing doors, replacing all bathroom fixtures and modifying showers for privacy.
Priority four projects are intended to be completed in year four or five of the plan.
“Over the past six to eight years, approximately $17 million has been spent on renovating and remodeling our 11 buildings,” Kochis said. “One would think that there could not be much left to do, but when the newest building is 40 years old, your list just does not end.”
During Wednesday’s meeting, the committee approved 12 projects to begin this summer using funds from the system’s fiscal 2015 budget:
— Renovate rear ADA access to classrooms at Abraham Lincoln School at a cost of $20,000.
— Replace all exterior faucet connections at Bangor High School at a cost of $10,000.
— Improve ADA access and traffic patterns and replace a door at Downeast School at a combined cost of $220,000.
— Begin replacing the electrical system at Fairmount School at a cost of $200,000.
— Renovate four bathrooms at Fruit Street school at a cost of $80,000.
— Renovate the kitchen delivery door at Fourteenth Street School at a cost of $2,000.
— Provide better parking lot drainage at Vine Street School at a cost of $30,000.
— Repair a second-floor ceiling fan and several steam traps at Mary Snow School at a combined cost of $32,000.
— Repair water intrusion along the foundation of The Learning Center at a cost of $15,000.
— Replace all windows at the Bangor Regional Program Building at a cost of $40,000.
This summer’s planned improvements have a combined cost estimate of $649,000. Kochis stressed that all of the cost projections are estimates and subject to change, though he called them “a pretty fair estimate based upon today’s construction costs.”
Follow Evan Belanger on Twitter at @evanbelanger.