CARIBOU, Maine — Excitement grows as RSU 39 inches along the path toward a new school. While the school district is still determining if their Capital Improvement Project will lead to a new building or a renovation project, PDT Architects has made it clear that consolidation and new construction is the direction to take.
Leading the project alongside administration is PDT. They’ve taken an eagle’s eye view on the surrounding area trying to scout out potential build sites.
“We’ve looked at approximately 10 sites and we’ve narrowed it down to six most viable sites,” Lyndon Keck, founding partner of PDT Architects, said at the building committee’s June 11 meeting.
Those six sites include areas surrounding Teague Park Elementary, Hilltop Elementary, a site behind and a site next to the high school, a site on the Van Buren Road and a site near Main Street. Civil engineers have walked each location and will be entering criteria into a matrix to determine what’s environmentally promising.
Keck along with PDT’s Chelsea Lipham showed the committee their first test fits of what the grounds may look like if they were to construct a new building near Teague Park or across Bennett Drive at the Learning Center.
The idea of a two-story building would save on energy costs and the building would have a single entrance for safety. Space challenges, bussing configurations and parking were topics of discussion at the meeting, and Keck said sites with more flexibility make the design process a little easier.
There’s still no design work yet, the test fits are a way of visualizing where a building would go. Test fits are still in the works for the remaining sites.
Keck and his team completed a draft of a new school vs. renovation analysis last Friday. He described results of lead and asbestos testing done at Teague, Hilltop and the middle school and, based on the findings, PDT has recommended construction of a new building. The analysis will be presented at the next building committee meeting on Thursday, June 25 at 8:30 a.m. at the superintendent’s office. The committee will need to endorse the analysis before it goes to the state for review.
RSU 39 has made it easier for the public to follow along with the Capital Improvement Project by including links to the project timeline and meeting agendas on their website. For more information visit rsu39.org.
