BATH
Development of a new home for Morse High School and the Bath Regional Career and Technical Center continues to inch forward.
Last week, the Bath Planning Board approved a site plan for the new building at Wing Farm. And, this week, a new design for the building’s exterior was unveiled.
The new design features a slightly updated front that appears to evoke the masts of a ship, giving it a nautical feel. Obvious changes to the design of the front of the building include a new entryway, more windows and different canopies. The Building Committee will continue its design work, with input from students and the public, through January 2019.
The updated design comes several months after initial ideas were presented for a straw poll vote in September 2017. Residents had little to say about the interior design of the building, but several people spoke out against some design elements of the front of the building and the entryway. At the time, chief architect Ron Lamarre of Lavallee Brensinger Architects said he looked to incorporate design elements from the Sagadahoc Bridge, which overlooks the city.
Voters in Regional School Unit 1 communities — Arrowsic, Bath, Woolwich and Phippsburg — approved issuing bonds to the tune of $74.62 million to fund the project in November 2017. Much of the tab, however, will be picked up by the state.
Local taxpayers will be responsible for paying 10.5 percent — or $7.9 million — of the total estimated cost. The district has hired a fundraiser to help it reach a goal of raising more than $700,000 to offset that cost.
The local funding is already becoming manifest in current budget discussions. The proposed budget for the school district next year includes $70,000 toward paying off the project.
The school is slated to open for the beginning of the 2020-21 school year. Site work is expected to begin this summer.
nstrout@timesrecord.com
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