ASHLAND – Residents of SAD 32’s five member communities will vote Thursday on a plan to build a nearly $22 million school to replace two buildings that are more than 50 years old.

The local share of the $21,937,928 project will be $1,754,000, according to James Gardner, town manager of Ashland, the district’s largest community. The state will pay 91 percent of the cost.

If the project is approved, students could move into the building in the fall of 2010.

A cumulative vote of the residents of Ashland, Portage Lake, Masardis, Garfield and Oxbow will decide the fate of the project that has been in the planning stages for several years.

The Maine Department of Education has given approval for the project and approved design plans a year ago. Construction could start this summer or fall, according to Gardner.

Gardner, reached Monday afternoon, said the plan is to build an 84,000-square-foot building to house 350 kindergarten through grade 12 students. The new school would replace two buildings, which have a combined area of 69,000 square feet.

The new building, a two-story structure, would be constructed in an area where the Ashland High School soccer and baseball fields are now located. The athletic fields would be relocated behind the new building.

The building design features a new auditorium seating 350 people, an expanded gymnasium to seat 530 people, improved playgrounds, new furniture and equipment, and an 80,000-watt backup generator that will allow the building to be used during emergency situations for the entire area.

The total local cost averages 0.91 mill, Superintendent Gehrig Johnson said Monday.

In Ashland, the local cost would increase the property tax rate by 0.89 mill, about $69,000 a year for 20 years.

Gardner said the Ashland Town Council voted in favor of the project, as has the SAD 32 school board.

He said students in the district have been posting documents around town in favor of the new school.

He said the old school is riddled with problems. Among them are mold, mildew and asbestos used in construction, and the buildings are not accessible to the handicapped. He said the town’s code enforcement officer has several building violations on file, but enforcement is being held back to see whether a new building will be constructed.

The school district was seventh on the state list for school construction and was approved by the state because of the bad state of the present buildings, according to the superintendent.

“The local valuation in Ashland is growing,” Gardner said. “To me this project is a no-brainer because of the local cost.

“It would cost $4 million to $10 million to repair the problems with the old schools and there is no state participation for repairs,” he said. “The cost of rehabilitation would be solely on the back of local taxpayers.”

He said local taxpayers could be paying 3 to 4 mills a year in increased taxes to rehabilitate the two older buildings.

An alternative to building a new school is to close the school and bus children to Presque Isle, 25 miles away.

“Not having a school in town could cause families to move away,” Gardner said. “A school is a good thing for the community.”

“This is a window of opportunity for the school district to take care of needed school buildings for 50 years,” Johnson, who is also superintendent in SAD 1 at Presque Isle, said Monday. “If this is turned down by voters, we need to start looking at a $10 million local cost option of repairing the buildings we have.

“This is a good opportunity for the district, and I hope residents see fit to improve the schools,” Johnson said. “If not, the buildings we have are very inadequate and it will be expensive to rehabilitate them. This is a good deal for the community.

“We are kind of excited about the project,” Johnson said.

Johnson said the estimated local cost will be about $65 for taxpayers with a property valuation of $70,000.

Voting will take place between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 31, at the Ashland Town Office, the Garfield Town Garage, the Masardis Town Office, the Oxbow Community Center and the Portage Lake Town Office.

The decision will be made by a cumulative vote of all residents.

Johnson said the vote is the next-to-last step in the project. If it is approved locally, the state will approve release of the money. He expects bids will go out in early summer with construction to start in September.