Officials break ground for new school

16 years ago
By Scott Mitchell Johnson
Staff Writer

    ASHLAND – With gold shovels in hand, officials turned over the first scoops of dirt last Tuesday officially breaking ground for the new pre-kindergarten to grade 12 school that will be constructed in Ashland.

 

ImageStaff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
    OFFICIALS TURNED OVER the first scoops of dirt last Tuesday officially breaking ground for the new pre-kindergarten to grade 12 school that will be constructed in Ashland. Participating in the ceremony were, from left: Sen. John Martin (D-Eagle Lake), SAD 32 Superintendent Gehrig Johnson, Sheila Lyons, SAD 32 board chair and chair of the building committee; Rep. Pat Sutherland (D-Chapman) and Rep. Charles Theriault (D-Madawaska).

 

    “This school will represent the heart and soul of our district,” said Sheila Lyons, SAD 32 board chair and chair of the building committee. “When the school will be completed, it will be seen from all three major roads leading into Ashland. This will speak to all who arrive that the people of this district hold educating their children as a high priority. I believe it will draw many to our communities who share those same priorities.”
    The ground-breaking ceremony was held on the current high school soccer field where the new school will be built.
    “This is a special day,” Superintendent Gehrig Johnson told students and community members who gathered for the occasion. “You may not think so now, but all of you will remember this day in years to come. Years from now, when each of you will be able to tell your family and your friends that you were here on the day that they broke ground for the new Ashland school.
    “Right now, where you’re sitting is the approximate area of the front entrance to the new school, the driveway and parking area,” he said. “It’s a big building … about 87,000 square feet and we’ll have three entrances into this school.”
    Gesturing to two dump trucks and a backhoe behind him, Johnson said crews would be starting “almost immediately.”
    “The first phase will be preparing the ground for the new school. They will be doing their job for the rest of this month, next month, and they should have that part completed about the first of October,” said Johnson. “Then the second phase of the project starts which is the actual constructing of the building. That should get started – if everything goes right – about the third or fourth week of October.
    “For the rest of this school year, all of next summer, and all of next school year, this building will be going up,” he said. “It should be completed in June 2010. That seems like a long time, but that will go very quickly, and you will be able to watch the whole process.”
    The Penta Corp. of Marlborough, N.H. is the general contractor. Voisine Construction of Fort Kent is the subcontractor. The existing high school will be leveled in the fall of 2010 after the students are in the new building. Athletic fields will be constructed on the site of the existing high school. Johnson said the elementary school will not be dismantled and its use has not yet been determined.
    Ashland Town Manager Jim Gardner said the construction phase will bring added dollars into the community.
    “This is going to be the best economical tool [for me],” he said. “When you build a new school and it’s in your community, we’re going to see 18 to 24 months of new people in our community. Those people have got to set down and spend their money somewhere, and there’s no better place to spend your money than in Ashland, Maine.”
    As a baseball coach, Gardner said he’s looking forward to middle school baseball players having the opportunity to play on a new field, as well.
    The new school will accommodate about 350 children in pre-K through grade 12.
    “The new school is designed to meet current and future educational needs of students for space and educational programming,” said Johnson. “The entire facility will be made handicapped accessible and energy efficient.”
    The blueprints call for an auditorium designed to seat 345, and an expanded gymnasium with seating for 400.
    New paved parking and driveway with separated bus drop-offs, play areas, and landscaping are also included in the project to make the site safer and more functional. Furnishings, computers and much needed equipment are also called for in the project budget. An 80,000-watt back-up generator will also allow the continuation of full power during electricity outages.
    The new school will cost $21,937,928, of which $20,217,000 (91 percent) will be paid for by the state.
    “The estimated increase in the average mill rate for education will be .96 mills or a little less than $1 for each $1,000 of value,” Johnson said. “On average, a local taxpayer with a residence valued at $70,000 could expect to see an increase of about $67 per year in property taxes.”
    Johnson said weekly updates and photos will be posted on the district’s Web site, www.sad32.org.
    “I hope you all will join me again here on this site in August 2010 … two short years from now, to celebrate the grand opening of our new school,” he said. “This truly is an exciting time and we’re going to go through this exciting time together. I’m looking forward to it and I hope your are, too.”
    Guests were then treated to a celebratory barbecue on the soccer field.

 

    COMMUNITY MEMBERS and students alike attended a special groundbreaking ceremony last Tuesday for the new pre-kindergarten to grade 12 school that will be constructed in Ashland. The building will be about 87,000 square feet, and should be completed in June 2010.

Staff photo/Scott Mitchell JohnsonImage

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ImageStaff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
    STUDENTS AND STAFF were treated to a celebratory barbecue on the soccer field at Ashland Middle-High School following a groundbreaking ceremony last Tuesday for the new pre-kindergarten to grade 12 building.