SAD 3 mulls school construction delay

THORNDIKE – SAD 3 officials will have just one chance to design the $39.6 million replacement for the Mount View complex, and they want to get it right.

That’s the reason, Superintendent Barbara Rado Mosseau said Thursday, they have decided to move slowly on the project, even if it means delaying the construction timetable.

“We’re kind of talking about slowing down the process in order to ensure an excellent project,” Mosseau said.

The architectural firm the district is using is Oak Point Associates of Biddeford, which wanted to get its specifications completed in time to put the project out to bid this summer, she said. That timetable would have meant a September groundbreaking.

Another deadline Oak Point Associates and the district face comes next month, when plans have to be 90 percent complete to be reviewed by the state Board of Education.

The contract with Oak Point Associates calls for the designs to be complete by October.

Mosseau had high praise for the design firm’s work.

“They’ve been excellent,” she said.

“They have been rushing,” but not to the point of resulting in poor work, she added.

But by slowing the design process, the district can spend more time weighing decisions.

“The one thing we don’t want to sacrifice is having input,” Mosseau said.

The board has empowered the superintendent to make decisions when questions on the design are raised by the architects, she said, but she believes a better building will result if input can be sought from the district facilities committee and the board.

“I think it’s a better process to go slowly,” she said.

The ramifications of delaying the process, though, may be substantial. If work begins in late fall, that could mean cement footings will be poured in the cold-weather months, creating a challenge for builders as they work to keep the cement from freezing before it can cure.

But an alternative approach could have the land being cleared in February, and construction work commencing in early spring. That could mean savings, since the builder won’t have to heat the site through the winter.

Mosseau said no decisions have been made on the timetable, and the board will likely take up the issue in the coming weeks.

The most recent timetable called for the school, which will be built adjacent to the existing Mount View complex, to open to students in September 2008. Slowing the design process would likely change that timetable, she said.