CAMDEN, Maine — The Camden area school district is eyeing November 2017 for a second referendum on whether to build a new middle school.
Several board members and administrators met Nov. 2 with Oak Point Associates, the architects and engineers for the Camden-Rockport Middle School project. School Administrative District 28 Superintendent Maria Libby said the plan is for the project to go back before voters in November 2017.
Residents in Camden and Rockport rejected a $28 million bond referendum in February to construct a new middle school and renovate the current middle school at Mary E. Taylor for use as administrative offices and adult and alternative education. The vote was 946 to 668 in opposition to borrowing the money for the project.
Opposition came from people who questioned the costs and those who were irritated about the timing of the vote in the middle of the winter.
District leaders, however, continue to maintain that the original Mary E. Taylor Middle School, built in 1925, is inefficient and costly to maintain. The related Five-Town Community School District is forming a committee to look at whether it would have any use for the Mary E. Taylor building.
Libby said the district does not expect to include money for renovations to Mary E. Taylor or the bus barn, where central offices are located, in the next bond referendum.
In addition, the superintendent said the district wants to improve its communication with the community before going back out for a vote. In the February vote, there were municipal officials voicing opposition to the referendum.
Meanwhile, significant damage was done in the middle school gym last week.
During a men’s indoor soccer game, a ball struck a water pipe that broke and caused up to an inch of water to fill the gym. A cleaning company was brought in, and industrial dehumidifiers were used to dry out the facility.
Libby said Tuesday there may be long-lasting issues. She said quite a bit of the wood floor is cupped and is not able to be used for basketball. An insurance adjuster and a company that specializes in water damage will look at the floor Wednesday to provide the district a better assessment of the situation, Libby said.