September groundbreaking likely for new PreK-8 school The Brewer School Department has received approval from the state Department of Education (DOE) to go forward with a two stage bidding process that will speed construction of the district's new preK-8 school. Bids for phase one site preparation will be sent out in mid-August, allowing the groundbreaking to take place in September. By starting in September, the contractor should be able to get most of the earthwork for the project completed before the end of December, thus avoiding extreme winter conditions that could delay the project or make it more expensive. Bids for the building construction will be sent out in late fall, with the contractor likely to be selected in December. Steve Pedersen, project manager for WBRC Architects-Engineers of Bangor, said the project reached the 95% completion milestone at the end of July and that construction documents were scheduled to be submitted to all state agencies (DOE, the Bureau of General Services, the state Fire Marshal, and others) and the City of Brewer by August 15. He said the September groundbreaking is "very good news," because it increases the likelihood that the building will be completed and ready for occupancy by the end of December 2010. Superintendent of Schools Dan Lee said a decision on when to move into the new building won't be made until sometime in the fall of December 2010, the school district would have the option of moving in during Christmas vacation waiting until summer, or completing the move in phases during the spring of 2011. Mr. Pedersen said the September groundbreaking became possible because the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and other permitting agencies completed their work and approved the project sooner than expected. Selection of the building contractor in December will allow plenty of time for the contractor to get mobilized and start construction as soon as the frost is out of the ground, maybe as early as March. Unless winter comes earlier than usual, the contractor would have the option of doing the foundation work before the ground freezes. "Most contractors will want to start mobilizing and get the preliminary work out of the way during the winter and then hit the ground running in March," he said. DOE has approved $36.6 million in state funding for the project Brewer taxpayers will pay $133,000 for land acquisition and $2.6 million for a performing arts center that will seat about 500. Mr. Pedersen says the accelerated schedule could have a favorable impact on the cost of the project. He said the dollar amount of the project would stay the same, but if costs come in below budget, the school district may be able to add in some alternate items that couldn't be included in the project to keep it on budget. "We may be able to get more building for our dollar," he said. Mr. Pedersen says the new school will make some very interesting uses of technology to enhance security, energy efficiency, and instruction. The building will have a state-of the- art security system, with computerized access to all entrances of the building through a card/key system. People in the office will be able to lock down the building in the event of an emergency. There will be video surveillance of the interior and exterior of the building. Video cameras will monitor activity in the corridors and all major spaces, including the entrances and parking lots. All heating and lighting controls will be computerized and automated to allow maximum energy savings. School officials will be able to view a computer screen with a map of the building that shows the location of all temperature controls. With the click of a mouse, the screen will show what the temperature is in the room and which fans are working. With another click of the mouse, the temperature can be raised or lowered. "We will be able to control the temperature of any room in the building from the office-or from anywhere in the world where we have an internet connection," Mr. Pedersen said. All classrooms will have flat screen TVs that are connected to a multimedia/TV network, allowing for video announcements in the classroom and video on demand from a media center operated by the librarian. "Teachers won't have to have VCRs or DVD players in their classrooms, and they won't have to roll projector carts around," says Mr. Pedersen. "Instead, teacher will be able to contact the media center and ask that a movie or other program be shown at a particular time." The performing arts center will have a state-of-the-art LED lighting package, which will provide beautiful color rendition for theatrical performances. The system, which was approved by the building committee at the end of July, will cost about the same as conventional theatrical lighting, but use only 10% of the power. HOME