ROCKLAND, Maine — The Owls Head Central School would have to be nearly triple its current size to meet the needs of all the students when the planned closure of the neighboring Gilford Butler School occurs, the Rockland area school board was told Thursday night.
Another option, instead of renovating and adding on to one of the district’s older buildings, would be to build a new 33,000-square-foot elementary school on the same property in Owls Head, an architect and engineer said.
Regional School Unit 13 board Chairman Steve Roberts of Rockland questioned how the plans went from adding space to a possible new school. He questioned whether the district was being given a Cadillac plan.
Board member Nancy Jeffers of Rockland disagreed, saying the district needs to fit students from Owls Head and Gilford Butler but also pre-kindergarten classes.
“We can’t just be jamming students into a building,” she said.
Roberts said after the meeting he just wants to be cautious with taxpayer money.
Architect Jason Merriam and engineer Michael Sabatini said no cost estimates have been developed for either an addition and renovation to the Owls Head school or construction of a new school. Merriam said he does not expect the costs would be that far apart.
Business Manager Peter Orne said this was the right time to be replacing these buildings. The Owls Head school needs extensive renovations, including replacement of siding, complete electrical upgrade and mechanical systems. The school is about 11,000 square feet, but about 33,000 square feet are needed to meet current state requirements for classrooms.
The RSU 13 Schools of the Future plan calls for closing the Gilford Butler School in South Thomaston, which serves 87 students in kindergarten through second grade, mostly from Owls Head and South Thomaston. Owls Head, built in 1952, serves 116 third- through fifth-graders, mostly from those two towns.
Sabatini pointed out that the lot in South Thomaston is too small to expand, but Owls Head has 7 acres that would allow for a new school or major addition.
The current schedule calls for public input through the fall with a referendum to be held in the district as early as November or as late as early spring. Construction could begin next spring with the school ready for the start of the 2018-2019 school year.