Pre-K to grade 12 school
to let students shine
By Scott Mitchell Johnson
TODAY IS THE FIRST DAY of classes in the new Ashland District School. Bowman Brothers of Newport served as the general contractor, and the building is about 87,000 square feet. Officials said 33,480 labor hours went into the sitework and construction on the building. Interestingly, the school features 89,800 square feet of floor space and 6,750 square feet of exterior windows.
ASHLAND – From new desks in the classrooms to new pots and pans in the kitchen, the Ashland District School is both state-of-the-art and top of the line.
“Other than some textbooks and the teachers’ personal belongings for their classrooms, everything is brand new,” said Sheila Lyons, chair of the SAD 32 board. “We have all new furniture – student desks, teacher desks, tables and chairs – right down to new tables and trays in the cafeteria. The kitchen is top-notch. I’d go back and cook that’s how beautiful the kitchen and cafeteria are.”
A little more than two years ago – Aug. 19, 2008 to be exact – the first scoops of dirt were turned over in an official ground-breaking ceremony on the site of the new Ashland District School. Now today – Sept. 8, 2010 – students are observing the first day of classes in the new pre-K to grade 12 school.
“There had been a need [for a new school] for many, many years,” said Lyons. “Roger Marecaux, who was principal at the elementary school, and Roland Caron, our former superintendent, worked with the state filling out applications and getting us on the list of possible new schools.”
After traveling throughout the state looking at new schools that were being constructed, board members selected Lewis & Malm Architecture of Bucksport to design the new building.
OFFICIALS TURNED OVER the first scoops of dirt Aug. 19, 2008 officially breaking ground for the new Ashland District School. 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).
“I started as the superintendent in SAD 32 three years ago this month,” said Gehrig Johnson. “They had just chosen the architect. We picked it up and went through the process of getting state board approval and developing the project with the architect.
“We got the application in just under the wire,” he said. “If it hadn’t gone through in 2007, we’d still be waiting.”
Johnson said both the Ashland Central School and the Ashland Community High School were in poor condition.
“Because we had a new school pending, no action was taken against us,” he said. “That’s the only reason the buildings weren’t condemned. However, there was no compromising on any safety issues; it was always safe to be in the building … they were just in rough shape.”
Had the state not approved SAD 32’s application to construct a new school, the district would have been forced to renovate the former structures to the tune of about $8 million – $5 million at the high school and $3 million at the elementary school so they would “pass code.”
The Ashland District School, which is about 87,000 square feet, cost nearly $22 million. All but about $1 million will be paid by the state.
In addition to a regulation-size gymnasium and the district’s first-ever auditorium, the school features 30 classrooms.
“The first floor is divided into two wings,” said Johnson. “Pre-K, kindergarten, first- and second-grade are on one wing, and grades 3-5 are on the other. Each of those wings has its own conference room. Also on the first floor is the auditorium, gymnasium, the industrial arts shops, the music and art rooms, all of the administrative offices, the library and cafeteria.
“The second floor – again two wings – one side is the middle school, the other side is the high school,” he said. “The building was designed so that each age level has their own space. They enter and leave the same door, but the interaction between the younger and older students will be minimal.”
Lyons, who taught kindergarten and first grade for 23 years in Ashland, said she’s sure the students are going to love the new art and music rooms.
“We’ve had a wonderful art teacher whose gone from classroom to classroom with paint and supplies, and now she’s going to have a nice, big art room,” she said, “and the music room is located behind the auditorium. Ashland’s always been known for its band and I think having the room to do what they do is going to allow them to shine.”
THIS IS WHAT THE ASHLAND DISTRICT SCHOOL looked like in July of 2009. Designed by Lewis & Malm Architecture of Bucksport, the building houses SAD 32’s pre-kindergarten to grade 12 students. Bowman Brothers of Newport served as the general contractor. The Ashland District School, which is about 87,000 square feet, cost nearly $22 million. In addition to a regulation-size gymnasium and the district’s first-ever auditorium, the school features 30 classrooms.
Johnson said the building has some “green” features and is also soundproof.
“They put an insulation membrane around the building; it’s very tight,” he said. “It was sprayed on, so it will be airtight in the wintertime. It was a $150,000 investment but will save a lot of fuel. The heating bill for this one building we expect to be half of what it was for the two buildings and the square footage is about 25,000 feet more in this building. Because it’s new, tight and efficient, we should see quite a savings.”
The school’s lighting system is such that the lights are sensitive to motion.
“If it’s cloudy outside, the lights inside will get brighter, and vice versa,” said Johnson. “It’s a big cost savings.”
Johnson said it’s been “fulfilling” to see the project through.
“I own property in that community, know people there, and have a lot of friends there,” he said, “so it’s been very rewarding for me personally to see this project come to fruition.”
Lyons agreed.
“I think people are going to be so in awe and so thrilled that their kids and grandchildren, their neighbors’ kids and any kids in their community are going to be able to go to that facility,” she said. “I’m beyond excited about the new school. I don’t have the words to explain it.
“I’ve been in every month since they started construction and I am in awe and I can’t talk about it without being emotional,” said Lyons, in a quivering voice. “I’ve always said that the kids in Ashland deserve just as much as the kids in Yarmouth and Cape Elizabeth. This school takes them from having probably one of the worst schools around to having undoubtedly the best facility. I looked at a lot of brand new schools when we looking at architecture, and I’ll put this up against any one of them.”
Did You Know? The number of truckloads of fill that was hauled to and from the project site was 3,750.
