What You Need to Know听

• Maine鈥檚 Governor鈥檚 Commission on School Construction is urging changes to how projects are planned, prioritized and funded, citing rising costs and a growing backlog.听

• The commission estimates the state may need听roughly听$11 billion听over 20 years听to repair or replace aging school buildings; Maine has听nearly听600听public schools听with an average building age of听54 years.听听

• Recommendations include addressing deferred maintenance earlier, using prototype designs, building a statewide facilities master plan and reducing red tape that can extend project timelines.听听

• The report also recommends creating a quasi-independent听Intergovernmental Office of School Infrastructure听and calls for a short-term working group to draft legislation and听implementation听details.听听

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AUGUSTA, Maine 鈥� Maine鈥檚 Governor鈥檚 Commission on School Construction is calling for a broad overhaul of the state鈥檚 school construction pipeline, arguing that the current approach cannot keep pace with aging buildings, rising costs and long waitlists for state support.听听

The commission鈥檚 final report lays out a long-term roadmap for planning,听funding听and delivering capital projects statewide 鈥� while local districts such as RSU 23 in Old Orchard Beach point to immediate building-system and accessibility issues as they wait for upgrades.听听

According to reporting by WGME/CBS13鈥檚 I-Team and a follow-up summary by Construction Owners Club, the commission estimates Maine could need听roughly听$11 billion听over the next 20 years to repair or replace hundreds of aging school buildings. The sources note Maine has听nearly 600听public schools and an average building age of 54 years.听听

The impact is visible in districts already queued for state听assistance. RSU 23 is seeking to replace Loranger Memorial School, described as a 90-year-old facility whose infrastructure and learning spaces no longer meet modern expectations. The district is currently at the front of the line for state funding, but Loranger鈥檚 placement on the priority list underscores how demand is outpacing available bond capacity.听听

Commission Chair Valerie Landry said the scale of need requires a shift in strategy, with the report organizing its recommendations around four goals: reducing construction costs, maximizing existing resources, diversifying and increasing funding, and using data more strategically.听听

The commission recommends addressing deferred maintenance earlier to avoid costlier replacements later, encouraging school consolidation where it makes sense, developing prototype or model school designs to reduce upfront design costs, and creating a statewide facilities master plan to guide long-term investment.听听

Process reform is also a central theme. The report calls for reducing the layers of requirements districts must navigate after a project is approved鈥攕uch as permitting, engineering studies, design听requirements听and acquisitions鈥攂ecause those steps can stretch schedules for years and delay when students and staff see a new or renovated building.听听

Even if the state streamlines the process, the commission cautions that financing听remains听the key constraint. The report discusses options such as raising the bond cap, capturing unused debt-service capacity for maintenance projects, exploring dedicated revenue听streams听and examining public-private partnership models used in other states.听听

One of the commission鈥檚 most significant recommendations is creating a small, quasi-independent Intergovernmental Office of School Infrastructure to coordinate planning, data听analysis听and funding strategies across state and local government. The commission notes听establishing听the office would require legislative approval and听urges听state leaders to form a short-term working group to draft legislation and听implementation听details.听听

This article is based on reporting originally published by WGME/CBS13 I-Team on Feb. 26, 2026, and a related summary published by Construction Owners Club on March 2, 2026.听

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WATERVILLE, Maine鈥擳he new $200 million Harold Alfond Athletics and Recreation Center at Colby College in Waterville is now open.

According to a recent college news release. the 350,000-square-foot building is the most advanced and comprehensive NCAA Division-III facility in the nation.

The three-story building was developed to emphasize daylight and openness and maximize views, while conveying a sense of intimacy despite its expansive scale.

The center has an aquatics center with the only Olympic-sized Myrtha pool in Maine, an ice arena with year-round regulation ice, the Margaret M. Crook Center with three regulation-length basketball/volleyball courts, and the open-air O鈥橬eil Atrium at the center of the building.

Other features of this impressive project include:

– a three-level Boulos Family Fitness Center;

– an indoor competition center (track/field house) with a six-lane track, regulation tennis courts, and accommodations for pole vault, high jump, long/triple jump, and shotput;

– a squash center with nine championship regulation courts;

– a 42-foot-tall climbing and bouldering wall with terrain ranging from easy vertical to more difficult articulated areas, and;

– an athletic trainer鈥檚 suite with hydrotherapy pools, exam rooms and a triage room.

The college is aiming to achieve LEED Gold certification for the center鈥檚 design and construction. Key sustainability components include optimizing natural resources, such as daylight harvesting, minimizing embodied carbon, and reducing energy and water use as well as carbon and greenhouse gas emissions.

Construction of the center was made possible in large part from the philanthropic support of the Harold Alfond Foundation.

The architects on the project are听Hopkins Architects听and听Sasaki. The general contractor is听Consigli.

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BATH, Maine 鈥� The new $75 million Morse High School in Bath remains on budget and schedule for completion this December, with the grand opening slated for February 2021.

The new school鈥攚hich will span nearly 190,000 square feet鈥攚ill replace the century-old Morse High School.

In November 2017, Regional School Unit 1 voters听approved a construction bond by a 3-1 margin. The state is funding $67.4 million of the $75.3 million cost; $7.2 million is to be paid locally through borrowing, with $700,000 earmarked from fundraising.

Harvey Construction of Bedford, New Hampshire, is building the new structure, and Topsham-based Crooker Construction is handling sitework.

RU 1 Superintendent Patrick Manuel said, in a statement, that work has been constant and that workers are practicing social distancing within the building.

鈥淗arvey Construction checks on them as they arrive, to keep an eye on the health and safety of everybody there.鈥�

Steve August, chairman of the RSU 1 Board of Directors, said he is satisfied with the progress, in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic.

鈥淚n spite of all the disruption that鈥檚 out there鈥�. at present things seem to be progressing.鈥�

The building, which will incorporate the Bath Regional Career & Technical Center, is approximately 20,000 square feet larger than the 1920s-era Morse High and neighboring technical center combined. The city will take ownership of the original 826 High St. school, and is considering options for reusing the building.

The new school will accommodate 650 students, and include two gyms and two athletic fields, in addition to an enhanced theater.

At present, floor slabs for first-floor classrooms, and auditorium and balcony have been placed; and masonry work is underway, along with roof-to-wall sealing, and installation of skylight wells over the gym and other parts of the building.

RSU 1 is due in December to assume occupancy of the building, and classes are to begin there after February vacation.

August said although RSU 1 had hoped to start immediately after Christmas break, the extra month allows faculty more time to coordinate classroom schedules and the demands of the move, August said.

鈥淚t should work well for the students, additionally,鈥� he noted.

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WESTPORT, Maine鈥擶hen completed in August 2021, the new $75 million Westport Middle-High School will serve up to 860 students in grades 5-12.

This two-story educational building will span 187,000 square feet and is being designed on a project-based learning curriculum with emphasis on STEAM education. There will be a Learning Commons on the ground floor, along with a maker space, fabrication labs, and childcare vocational spaces. It will include two full size gymnasiums, 1,320 square feet of physical education alternative space and a walking track.

The Middle and High school academic spaces are separated from each other, and both will have access to a shared commons. A state-of-the-art library media center is located on the main floor adjacent to the main entrance. The building envelope consists of masonry, glazing and metal panels.

Agostini Construction is the general contractor on this impressive project. Jonathan Levi Architects is the architect.

The project is seeking certification from the US Green Building Council鈥檚 LEED Rating System, Version 4 New Construction and Major Renovation.

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BAR HARBOR, Maine 鈥� The College of the Atlantic鈥檚 (COA) new $13 million Center for Human Ecology is designed to create state-of-the-art spaces for the waterfront campus鈥� learning community.

The transformative project set for COA aims to provide interdisciplinary learning and collaboration and enhanced opportunities for community engagement, as well as a new welcome center and front door.

At the heart of a multi-phase project, the Center for Human Ecology will be a light-filled, two-story building with sweeping views of Frenchman Bay that enhances the campus landscape by framing a new outdoor courtyard on the North Lawn.

鈥淭he Center for Human Ecology will exemplify the experiential model of education pioneered at College of the Atlantic, where research, mentoring, socializing, and experimentation come together to create new knowledge, new ideas, and new works, both for our island and for the world at large,鈥� said COA President Darron Collins. 鈥淭he center will embody our interdisciplinary mission, gathering sciences, arts, and humanities under one roof and inspiring engaged exploration for generations to come.鈥�

The 29,000-square-foot center will comprise science laboratories, flexible lecture halls, faculty offices, art and design studios, and a teaching greenhouse within a bright, high-energy performance environment. Further project phases, totaling approximately 16,000 square feet, include construction of an experimental theater, art gallery, propagation greenhouse, and 鈥淭he Landing,鈥� a welcome center and entrance plaza that will house admissions offices and act as a front door for the structure.

COA鈥檚 last new academic building was constructed in the 1980s when the student body was under 200. The student population today is strategically small and capped at approximately 350.

COA trustees unanimously approved construction of the Center for Human Ecology building at their winter meeting on Jan. 26. E.L. Shea, Inc. of Ellsworth, Maine will lead the construction phase of the project which is set to begin in the spring and be completed by September 2020.

The architects for the project are Susan T. Rodriguez Architecture and Design based in New York and GO Logic based in Belfast, Maine. The design team worked closely with COA staff, students, and faculty over the course of more than a year in developing the design for the building.

A comprehensive strategy toward sustainability, inspired by the College鈥檚 long-term commitment to the preservation of the natural world and a campus culture that promotes active involvement in that effort, informed the overall听 approach to the design from the outset, including site selection, solar orientation, use of local and recycled materials, onsite renewable energy sources, and a high-performance envelope and design.

鈥淭he Center for Human Ecology celebrates the many facets of campus life, reinforces connections to COA鈥檚 waterfront, and embraces the interdisciplinary nature of the COA curriculum,鈥� said Project Architect Susan T. Rodriguez, FAIA. 鈥淥ur goal was to create an architecture that would embody and reinforce the college鈥檚 mission by integrating the design into this spectacular site, resulting in a building that could only be found at COA.鈥�

Throughout the project, building features reinforce relationships between interior and exterior spaces, responding both to COA鈥檚 culture鈥攊ts deep awareness of the natural world鈥攁nd site, prioritizing views of the ocean and the backdrop of Acadia National Park, said Rodriguez.

The intersection of disciplines is expressed in the building鈥檚 design concept鈥攁t its center, public space and circulation come together to create flexible, multipurpose teaching and gathering spaces on both levels. Angled walls align to the primary geometry of the building, focusing activity around a shared center, while framing panoramic views south towards campus along a two-story glass fa莽ade.

鈥淭he site and the building鈥檚 wide range of spaces bring together the arts and sciences, land and sea, summer and winter, tradition and innovation, high-tech and low-tech informed by local and global considerations,鈥� said Rodriguez. 鈥淐apturing these intersections defines a new architectural paradigm inspired by the unique character of this campus landscape and COA鈥檚 interdisciplinary curriculum.鈥�

Construction of the center will follow the German Passive House standard for energy performance, representing an 80 percent reduction in energy use versus comparable code-compliant construction, said Timothy Lock of GO Logic. The center will be the largest project of this type designed according to Passive House principals built for this climate, he said.

鈥淧owered by COA鈥檚 dedication to sustainability and high performance throughout, the Center for Human Ecology represents new guideposts for what is possible for forward-looking academic buildings in a far northern climate,鈥� said Lock.

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