HAMPDEN – SAD 22 will receive state money either to build a new high school or renovate Hampden Academy within the next five years, Superintendent Rick Lyons announced Wednesday.

“This is the culmination point for what we’ve been advocating for over the last 14 years,” he told the board of directors.

Because the recently approved supplemental budget increased the state’s school construction debt limit from $104 million to $126 million in 2010, the state will have the money to accommodate building requests from schools rated 14 through 22 on the major capital improvement list. SAD 22 was ranked number 17 last summer when the top 13 construction requests were approved.

Lyons said he was optimistic that the district would receive construction money in 2010 and that the new or renovated school would open in fall 2011 or spring 2012.

The state will decide whether the project will be a new or renovated facility based on an analysis to be provided by the district, Lyons said.

“We need to give close attention to the merits” of both types of projects, he said.

Assistant Superintendent Emil Genest said in an interview after the meeting that a study commissioned by the district several years ago estimated that either project would cost approximately $25 million.

Maine Department of Education guidelines indicate that a minimum of 28 acres would be needed for a new building, he said. While land behind Edwards Supermarket on Route 9 in Hampden has been considered, other locations in that community as well as in Winterport and Newburgh will be evaluated.

The district now must sit tight until summer when the State Board of Education is expected to officially endorse the additional eight construction requests, assign a dollar amount to each project, and release a timeline.

Based on a preliminary schedule, the district will hire an architect to design both a new and a renovated facility as part of the “concept design” phase this fall. Also at this point the district will finish an analysis of whether it’s more cost effective and educationally sound to build a new building or to renovate the current facility. A site analysis will be conducted to determine the best location for a new school.

In late 2008 the State Board of Education is expected to announce whether the district will get a new or renovated school. In March 2009 SAD 22 residents will vote whether to proceed with the construction.

If voters decide to build more than what is recommended by the department of education – for instance a larger performing arts center or additional athletic facilities – local money would need to be allocated, Genest said.

At that point, the design would be completed and the project put out to bid. The State Board of Education would give final funding approval in January 2010, and construction would begin that spring.

The project could move faster if school systems higher on the list aren’t on time with their state construction requirements, Genest said. Also, since the district already has completed some of the work, eight months could be shaved off the timeline, he said.