BATH

Steps have already been taken by Regional School Unit 1 toward selecting an architectural firm to work with the district since Morse High School was approved for a major capital school construction project last spring.

“We’ve formed a nine-member building committee,” said RSU 1 Superintendent Patrick Manuel, “with three central office members, three board members and three community members.”

Manuel, Deb Clark, the RSU’s business manager, and David Richards, the maintenance director, serve on the committee as do board members Steve August, Alan Walton and Bill Perkins. Community members Steve Singer, David Matero and Deb Keller are also on the building committee.

There is a 21-step state-mandated review and approval process for construction projects, said Manuel, adding that the committee is currently on step four — designer selection.

“We put out a request for qualifications to architectural firms and received six responses,” said Manuel. “The committee interviewed four firms in November and we’re in the process of developing a contract with Lavallee-Brensinger, out of Manchester, N.H.”

Lavallee-Brensinger Architects, which also has offices in Charlestown, Mass., previously worked on an addition and renovation project at the Wells- Ogunquit high school and the new high school project in Windham, among others.

“We have a school board meeting on Dec. 15 and my hope is we will have an initial contract ready for the board to consider approving,” said Manuel.

The initial contract is for the firm to conduct a “new build versus renovation analysis,” said Manuel, which will determine which steps will be taken next — either renovation plans to the existing facility, or site location for a new facility to be built.

“It’s a state supported building construction project, but we won’t know what we’ll get in terms of funding until we get into the building design” portion of the process, said Manuel. “At that time we’ll know how much the state will pay and what the local share might be.”

The state Department of Education and State Board of Education determine the financial scope of major capital school construction projects, but local contributions can be raised to exceed that limit.

“Once we get into the conceptual design, that’s when we will be developing other committees and there will be a lot of opportunity for community involvement,” said Manuel. “This opportunity only comes along once in a lifetime and we are really looking for community involvement and support.”

Manuel also noted that construction updates will be given regularly via the school district’s website and social media accounts.

Morse High School ranked 11 on the state’s 2010-11 Rating Cycle Priority List which evaluated the overall needs of school facilities in the state. RSU 1’s Fisher-Mitchell elementary school ranked 60 and the Dike-Newell elementary school ranked 67.

Mt. Ararat High School in Topsham, which ranked seventh on the list, was also approved for a major capital school construction project, and is currently engaging in the same process as RSU 1, said Manuel.

In November 2013, voters passed a $5.2 million bond to address emergent issues with RSU 1 facilities, the bulk of which was dedicated to Morse High School.

“We’ve spent approximately $3 million of that bond and we’re pretty much complete on that work,” said Manuel, which included necessary repairs and maintenance. “When we got word last spring that Morse was approved, we scaled back some projects and there were others that we opted not to do.”

Major capital school construction projects vary in timeline, said Manuel, but he added that he hoped students would be in a new or renovated facility within four to five years.

“From a district perspective, we’re really excited to have this finally become a reality,” said Manuel. “We’ll have a facility that is current and that will improve the learning environment for students and staff.”

rgargiulo@timesrecord.com

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