BATH
Potential catastrophic failures in Regional School Unit 1 buildings are of “great concern,” the school unit’s facilities director said Thursday night.
Dave Richards spoke during an RSU 1 Board of Directors workshop at Morse High School, where a large chunk of the estimated $5 million in renovations is earmarked. The board will decide whether to seek a Nov. 5 bond referendum during Monday night’s meeting at Morse.
Following the workshop, RSU 1 officials provided the public with a tour of Morse, and of the adjoining Bath Regional Technical Center.
Of the many projects, no less than 16 are identified as needed to “prevent shutdown,” and 18 are associated with safety. The total price tag of projects at Morse and Bath Middle School is $4,068,000 and the total at the four elementary schools is $833,000.
“We’ve got old buildings,” Richards said. “That’s one of the biggest things we need to do, is extend the useful life of our buildings.”
RSU 1 officials are concerned with possible pipe failures at Dike Newell School and the roof at Bath Middle School, among many other issues.
“Every year we put things in the budget, every year they were getting cut,” Richards said. “A good example of that is the middle school roof.”
Larger ticket items include:
— Ventilation system at Morse, $1,200,000; abatement at Morse, $300,000; windows at Morse, $290,000; science lab upgrades at Morse, $250,000; electrical distribution at Morse, $200,000.
— Roof and gym at Bath Middle School, $240,000.
— Heating, piping and repaving at Dike-Newell School, $368,000; roof at Dike- Newell, $130,000.
Despite the urgency of the needs, Board Chairman Tim Harkins and Director Kyle Yacoben have expressed concerns regarding a bond referendum, on the heels of last year’s 6 percent budget increase. Harkins said Thursday night that the board is prepared to offer public tours of the buildings, so that people can see the needs for themselves.
Harkins referred to facilities studies, completed by Harriman Associates of Portland.
“Morse has many spaces that are becoming rapidly undesirable,” Harriman reported in one study — completed in 1980.
Harkins credited the Finance and Facilities committees for working all year on the facilities needs, and scaling back the original $6 million estimate.
Should voters back the 10- year bond, he said, work would not begin until next summer.
lgrard@timesrecord.com
The Times Record Sustaining Sponsor
We believe a community must be informed to thrive. bowdoin.edu
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less