News

$1.5 million to upgrade Pennell campus, report states
By Elizabeth Prata

The State of Maine requires all School Departments to create a 10-year Capital Asset Renewal plan and submit it to the State. In order to complete the renewal plan, the SAD 15 needed to learn the current condition of their buildings. They hired the James W. Sewall Company, an engineering firm, "to evaluate all SAD 15 buildings in terms of condition and what work will be required in order to keep them in good functioning condition," said SAD 15 Technology Director Craig Moore. "They've ranked each building in terms of deficiencies and necessary improvements on a priority scale," Moore continued.

In the upcoming weeks The Monument will present excerpts from the report showing current condition of all school buildings.

The SAD has long stated publicly that they would like to divest themselves of two of their buildings: Pennell Institute and Anderson lab. These two buildings have been an educational institution in the Town of Gray since they were built in1876. The SAD absorbed ownership of them from the Town of Gray when the SAD was formed in the early 1960s. The Town of Gray would like to buy the buildings back and is mulling the Institute's use as a potential town office, along with several other town office options that Town Office Center Committee proposed.

The SAD directors and Superintendent, Town of Gray, and Town of New Gloucester officials will meet in workshop on April 12 at 7 p.m. at a location to be determined to discuss what should be done with Pennell.

The Pennell campus was analyzed as three separate buildings: the original two story section built in 1876, the addition to the Institute built in 1954, and the freestanding lab built in 1876.

The report describes each building in detail and then lists required work and associated costs.

Left, The original portion and the added wing. There is a wing on the left side of the original portion, too. The Monument: Prata photo

 

Cost for upgrading the lab building would be $354,002. Below, the Lab. The Monument: Prata photo

The five most expensive items are:
$113,597 for elevators and lifts
$58,350 for a second exit
$51,235 for a new boiler
$28,185 to repair and repoint exterior brick
$20,770 to improve air quality in the basement
Items are also graded by urgency:
$153,201 currently critical
$23,473 potentially critical
$52,890 necessary, but not yet critical
$3,330 recommended
$121,108 does not meet current codes
Cost for upgrading the original portion of the main building would be $732,584.
The five most costly items are:
$213,066 for elevators and lifts
$79,176 to repair exterior brickwork
$67,404 to upgrade windows
$56,240 for boiler room work
$53,784 to improve interior wall finishes
Items are also graded by urgency:
$81,159 currently critical
$175,964 potentially critical
$190,467 necessary, but not yet critical
$53,784 recommended
$231,210 does not meet code
Cost for upgrading the addition wing would be $418,167
The five most costly items are:
$97,978 for exterior windows
$69,942 for roof coverings
$58,127 for floor finishes
$43,404 for ventilation
$39,655 for ceiling finishes
Items are also graded by urgency:
$109,319 currently critical
$118,838 potentially critical
$162,749 necessary, but not yet critical
$0 recommended
$27,261 does not meet code