ROCKLAND, Maine — A state law has put the brakes on a proposal to build a new regional vocational center on Route 1 in Warren.
The elimination of this potential site means the current location on the waterfront at 1 Main St. in Rockland is the only remaining viable option.
The Region 8 Cooperative Board, which oversees the Mid-Coast School of Technology, voted Wednesday night to proceed with planning for a new school at the Rockland site, director Beth Fisher said Thursday.
Lavallee Brensinger Architects will develop specific plans for a new building that would be located on the 7-acre parcel, Fisher said. The design is expected to be presented to the board in June.
The board considered a parcel on Route 1 in Warren, across from Scuttlebutt Antiques, which had 346 feet of frontage along the road.
But Fisher said the Maine Department of Transportation notified the school system there is a state law that prohibits most large public facilities, such as a school, from being located on major arteries where the speed limit is 45 mph or faster. Besides Route 1, Routes 17 and 90 also were included on that list of major local roads, she said. The law was enacted after schools such as Camden Hills Regional High School were built, she said.
The speed limit is 55 mph along the stretch of Route 1 in Warren that was eyed for a new school. Speed in a school zone is reduced to 15 mph when school is in session. The transportation department told local school officials there has been an increase in car crashes in locations where schools are on a road where the speed limit is significantly greater than 15 mph.
There is a waiver process, but it is extremely difficult to get one, and none has been given, Fisher said.
The vocational school district’s building committee had gone through a list of hundreds of potential sites. The new site had to have at least 20 acres and have enough room for a new school and potential expansions. Issues such as wetlands and access to water and sewer were considered during the winnowing process, Fisher said.
The location also had to be within 10 miles of the Maine State Ferry Terminal in Rockland because there are students from North Haven and Vinalhaven who attend the vocational school, and administrators want to keep down their travel time.
The elimination of the Warren site means the current location is the only remaining viable option for building a new school.
The Rockland property consists of 7 acres on the waterfront. The 57,000-square-foot building was built in 1968 as a marine repair shop. The Region 8 Cooperative Board purchased the property in 1976, and the vocational center opened for students in 1977.
Lavallee Brensinger Architects concluded in a report to the vocational school board in January 2015 that the Rockland building was not worth renovating.
“Given the age and condition of the facility, as well as the obstacles that the existing facility poses on the educational delivery, there is very little justification for renovating the facility,” the report stated.
The new school would be built behind the existing building, which would be demolished. At a maximum size of 90,000 square feet, a new school would cost an estimated $25.5 million.
A tentative schedule calls for a referendum in November of all the communities served by Region 8. That includes every community in Knox County as well as the Lincoln County towns of Waldoboro and Monhegan, and the Waldo County towns of Lincolnville and Islesboro.
The technology school provides technical and career education for students from 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, Vinalhaven, North Haven, Islesboro and Lincoln Academy in Damariscotta. About 450 students are served at the facility and in cooperative programs in the sending schools. Another 600 to 800 people take adult education classes.