As the fog lifts over Penobscot Bay, two unique school building projects begin to come into focus. One edges toward completion as the other seeks to find its beginnings.
Vinalhaven’s new K-12 school serving its 216 students is finally, almost, a reality. The old school, where the new parking lot and fields will be, has been demolished. What was worth keeping has been moved to the new school, sold or scavenged. (One resident and former basketball player saved some of the pieces of the old gym floor to use for the countertop of his shop’s bar – recycling at its finest.)
The new gym is worth seeing – and playing on. There are six basketball hoops instead of two. A Viking’s face – the school’s mascot – stares defiantly up from center court, and bleachers are emblazoned in red and white squares spelling out V-I-K-I-N-G-S.
Where once teachers taught in closets and hallways, now they will now teach in spacious rooms with plenty of light and Internet access.
The library rises up to two cupolas that pour light onto new books and shelves. A wooden bridge connects the upper floors. A granite wall built by community volunteers greets visitors and serves as a reminder of the island’s quarrying past. The arts program will be energized through a new theater and a classroom dedicated solely to art education (the room even has a kiln for firing pottery). Administration and staff are already working in the new building.
None of this came easy, as any teacher, student or community member can tell you. Two years ago classes were interrupted by blasts of dynamite. Slowly but surely, the fields disappeared, forcing sports teams to adapt and relocate (which they did with amazing success). In the original plan, the new school was to open last December. It will open this fall. The budget went up, requiring special town votes and meetings. While almost all recognized the need for a new school, some thought the one being built was too big and too expensive. But the island stayed the course, and this fall Vinalhaven students will enter one of the best school buildings in the state of Maine.
Across the Thoroughfare, the neighboring island of North Haven has only just begun to explore the possibilities of a new school building project. A pamphlet outlining an early proposal for a new school explains why one is needed. It states, “Every recent study of our school, including the Accreditation Report, highlights our inadequate facility.” It continues, explaining, “Our classrooms are too small and do not meet state requirements.” Finally, the pamphlet asserts, “Our school building is in need of extensive repair and expansion. At a cost of several million dollars, this would be a questionable investment.” The initial school design was for a 21,000 square-foot building, not including the gym, at a cost of around $6 million. At a town meeting a vote was held as whether to pursue funding for the design. The vote ended in a tie, 109-109. Some of those who voted against the design were concerned about the substantial increase in operation costs of a new, larger building, meaning higher taxes.
Several community members formed a committee with the task of designing a more energy efficient school. Members include John Dietter, Becky Bartovics, Louis Carrier, Nathan Haskell, Ken Jones, Keith Eaton, Ted Sage, Nancy Hopkins-Davisson and others. The group talked to every staff member in the school attempting to go “from wants to needs,” as Dietter put it. Working alongside architects, engineers and consultants the team came up with a series of recommendations for building a “high performance school.” Gunnar Habbard, a consultant to North Haven from Leadership in Environment and Energy Design (LEED) explained an energy efficient school as one that has “low energy, maintenance, and operation costs.” It is a school that “lasts a long time and is easy to operate.”
Committee recommendations included reducing the size to around 15,000 square feet, designing and planning for expansion now, maximizing natural daylighting, roof space for solar panels, and radiant floor heating.
And as the sun finally broke through the August fog Vinalhaven students geared up for a new year in a brand new school. It took a great deal of toil, and some turmoil. North Haven returns this year to a school that staff, students, and community members have made the most of for many years. New, old, or envisioned – the Vikings and Hawks will find some school, some gym, some surface to match up and continue a great basketball rivalry.