NEWPORT – After years of waiting and more than a year of designing, plans for two new middle schools for the east and west sides of SAD 48, in Penobscot and Somerset counties, will be ready for contractors in late January.

Bids will be returned in February and March in hopes of an early spring construction start. The buildings will be completed for the start of school in August 2002.

The plans are 90 percent complete, Superintendent William Braun said this week.

In the most recent review by members of the building committee, portions of the heating system were eliminated as unnecessary. The cut saved $60,000 in cost, Braun estimated. The buildings will use radiant heat in the floors with an air-exchange system.

The added step of pre-heating cold air coming back into the new buildings was determined to be unnecessary by directors.

The precision review is just one example of the scrutiny Braun and his board have applied to the plans prepared by architect Steven Blatt. The result “keeps us in the ballpark” for construction estimates, Braun said.

With $10,935,000 of the projects funded by the state Department of Education, the district will raise about $2.5 million.

Official names for the two schools are undecided, hence the current designation as Somerset and Penobscot schools.

The two schools will be bid as two separate projects, allowing contractors to bid on one or both. Plans will be available for the Somerset school Jan. 23 with the Penobscot school plans to be available Jan. 30. The bid returns also will be separated by about nine days to encourage contractors “to sharpen their pencils,” Braun said.

Going to bid in January is another move aimed at improving the competition for the two projects, he explained.

Bids from subcontractors will be returned before the final bid to control costs further since many of the same subcontractors may be bidding with different general contractors, he said.

Final bids for the Somerset school, to be built behind the current Hartland Junior High School, will be returned Feb. 20 to be opened at 3 p.m. Bids for the Penobscot school, to be built on the Williams Road in Newport, will be returned March 1.

In designing the two buildings, the school board repeatedly stressed the simplicity of design that essentially will allow the district to build two schools for the price of one.

SAD 48 voters defeated earlier attempts to create a single middle school to serve the entire district.

The buildings are identical with two floors, one for fifth and sixth grades on one floor and the other for seventh and eighth grades. Two floors are easier to manage and maintain, Braun said.

“They will operate as separate schools within a school,” he said.

Each building will house about 350 children with the ability to house 500. Planning for the future, the design also allows the district to add four rooms to each wing, if it should become necessary. The economy and development in the area will be the deciding factor, he said.

“We can sustain the schools no matter what happens,” Braun added.

Cost estimates for the two buildings include significant development costs for each site. The Hartland-Somerset school requires a longer access road, and the Newport-Penobscot school includes ledge removal about two to four feet below the surface.

The two projects offer a unique opportunity for contractors and the district. A single contractor could construct both schools or coordinate with a competitor to share the projects, or each could win separate contracts.

When the schools open in August 2002, it may be the first time any district has opened two new schools at once.

“To my knowledge, it has never been done,” Braun said. “That’s why we’re planning for it now.”

During the construction, a committee of staff and board members will work on a transition plan to anticipate the effect on the district. Scheduling of classes, staffing, busing, extracurricular activities and sports will be affected across the district, he said.

“We’re all pretty excited,” Braun said. “And the excitement has infiltrated the whole system. We’re seeing more parent and even grandparent involvement in the district.”