Proposed building site requires Teague Park relocation
CARIBOU, Maine — RSU Superintendent Timothy Doak announced last week that the National Park Service has approved a Teague Park land swap which allows the new school project to move forward. This RSU 39 project, administered by PDT Architects, is over a year in the making and likely has a couple more to go before completion.
Like any major government funded project, the planners and architects need approval from a variety of organizations before moving ahead with construction. In addition to confirmation from the State Board and Department of Education, the RSU needed approval from the federal park agency in order to place the school where Teague Park is now located.
The superintendent passed out a tentative schedule for the project during an October 5 board meeting at the Stockholm town office.
Written by Chelsea Lipham of PDT Architects, the schedule delineates approximate dates for the events leading up to the eventual referendum. The next step, according to this document, is to meet with the State Board of Education on Oct. 12 and then with the DOE on Oct. 13 to review plans, site renderings, and final cost estimates.
The Building Committee is scheduled to hold a meeting the following day in the Learning Center at 8 a.m.. The public is welcome to attend these meetings and, near the meeting’s conclusion, are encouraged to ask any questions they may have regarding the project.
RSU and PDT still have a great deal to accomplish before the building goes to referendum, including a straw vote, a public hearing, and additional meetings with the State Board of Education.
If all goes smoothly, the committee hopes to have the question of building the new school go to referendum by Feb. 7, 2017. At this time, voters will be presented with two choices: to accept the school with no local tax burden or to accept the facility with locally funded additions, including a second gymnasium and a music room.
Estimates for these additions are approximately $2 million, and fund-raising efforts (led by community member Sam Collins and RSU Board member Ron Willey) are currently being made to offset this cost.
