OLD TOWN – The fading blue sky of a spring afternoon served as a backdrop for a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday when Old Town city and school officials grabbed gold-colored spades and turned the earth for a state-of-the-art elementary school soon to grace a field off Stillwater Avenue.

The groundbreaking brought to fruition an idea that had been developed for three years. The $8 million building will house all kindergarten-through-fifth-grade pupils in Old Town, about 480 children at present. Its design and overall concept are the products of architectural skill combined with active community involvement, according to officials at the ceremony.

While most people attending the ceremony were adults in suits and hard hats, one guest, Brandon Badger, 8, will actually sit in a desk at the new school once it’s finished in 2003. A third-grader at the city’s Herbert Gray School, Brandon said he had seen pictures of the new school at a Boy Scout meeting.

A young athlete, Badger said it would be “neat” to have a gymnasium. Right now, he is bused to another school in the city for physical education classes because facilities are limited at his school.

“Some kids have gym, art and lunch in the same room there,” Badger said.

“He’s ready for the school and so are we,” said his mother, Wendy Badger, who taped the ceremony on a camcorder.

Turning over the first spades filled with dirt were school Superintendent Owen Maurais, school board Chairman Jim Dill and City Councilor Mike Wickett.

Maurais thanked the Old Town community for its support and involvement in the new school project. “There’s never been a question that children are the highest priority we have,” Maurais told the gathering of about 50 people. The new building, planned to be a two-story brick structure with innovative “common areas,” cafeteria and attached gymnasium, will provide opportunities for Old Town children for at least the next 80 years, Maurais said.

Old Town has a history of educational excellence and quality, Maurais observed. “You can be sure that tradition will be held into the next century,” Maurais said.

Dill thanked the building committee and the city for its efforts in the project. “About three years ago we started talking about a new school, and here we are breaking some ground,” Dill said.

The new school is located behind the shopping center on Stillwater Avenue on 18 acres purchased from the University of Maine. It will open for classes in September 2003. The four buildings that now house the city’s elementary school population will be closed in June 2003. The city’s school system also includes the 360-pupil Leonard Middle School and the 760-student Old Town High School.

After the trio broke the ground, they invited others to shovel a spade full of dirt. A school principal and many building committee members came forward.

Project manager Jim Rouleau Jr. of H.E. Sargent Co. said the project is a source of pride for the construction company, which has its headquarters in Old Town. To show its community spirit, Roleau said he told young Brandon Badger the boy will be given the chance to write his name on one of the construction beams going into the school. The beam eventually may be buried in dirt or in a wall, but the “Brandon Badger” moniker will be there to stay. “I think it’s neat,” said Brandon, flashing a smile.