CARIBOU, Maine — Contractors recently resumed work on the roughly $50 million Caribou Community School after pausing in late 2018. Now, they are set to continue straight through next winter and into August of next year to get it ready to open the new school in fall 2020.
It will replace Hilltop Elementary School, Teague Park Elementary School, and Caribou Middle School, housing all Caribou area PreK-8 students. Hilltop was recently sold to a group of investors, who plan to turn that facility into a senior living center while Teague Park Elementary School and Caribou Middle School are scheduled for demolition along with the Caribou Learning Center and Sincock Administrative Building.
Work has resumed on the Caribou Community School, and contractors will soon pour the foundation at the site, seen here on April 2. While construction paused in late 2018, workers will continue through next winter until the project’s anticipated completion date of August 2020.
(Chris Bouchard)
Tim Doak, superintendent of RSU 39, a regional school unit that shares financial resources between Caribou, Limestone, and Stockholm, said construction resumed in late March, with lead contractor Bowman Constructors of Newport and subcontractors digging out the site and removing the snow to expose the footers installed after contractors broke ground on the project last August.
Workers will finish the groundwork for the last wing of the building and soon begin to pour the concrete foundation. Then, trucks from Quebec will begin delivering two to three loads of steel to the site on a weekly basis.
Doak said contractors will erect the steel in early May, at which point the “building will really begin to take shape.”
“It should be a fun time for the community to see what the building will actually look like,” he said, “You’ll see waves of trailer trucks coming to Caribou weekly for at least two to three months.”
Once the frame is complete, contractors will begin work on the masonry and siding.
“They will work continuously through the winter,” said Doak, “because at that point the building will be up and people are really going to see this project take off.”
Caribou Learning Center demolition is currently underway, as contractors last year removed as much interior materials as possible and are now beginning to knock down the exterior.
Overall, Doak said he is excited about the new school project and believes it is a “great opportunity for the city of Caribou and RSU 39.”
“I think it’s going to be a fun time for the community this summer,” he said. “They will be able to drive by the site and see something different every day as the building takes shape.”
Work has resumed on the Caribou Community School, and contractors will soon pour the foundation at the site, seen here on April 2. While construction paused in late 2018, workers will continue through next winter until the project’s anticipated completion date of August 2020.
(Chris Bouchard)
