The state of Maine has agreed to pay for the construction of a $26.7 million school in Monmouth that will replace the town’s middle and grade schools.
CentralMaine.com reports that the 70,000-square-foot facility will be erected next to the town’s high school.
Regional School Unit 2, the district that includes Monmouth, hopes to break ground in July, Superintendent Bill Zima says. About 400 students are expected to attend the new school, which could open as soon as January 2020.
The new building will replace Monmouth Middle School and Henry L. Cottrell Elementary School.
The district has been working to secure construction funding for almost a decade. The state had ranked Monmouth Middle School ninth on a list of facilities in such poor shape that it would pay to replace them.
The school was built in 1856, and has been expanded multiple times in the 20th century.
The result is a structure that’s increasingly difficult to heat and navigate, with sloped floors and a locker room that students must pass through to reach some classes, among other problems.
Along the way, the district also sought approval to include elementary grades in the new building.
The school will be built next to Monmouth Academy and will create “a campus feel” that supports the district’s use of proficiency-based learning, Zima says.
The architect is Oak Point Associates.
