The new middle school construction project has entered its final phase. The reality that the end of this project is coming soon has become more tangible as we watched the beginning of the demolition these past weeks. Demolition is occurring north of the gym and will work its way down the site. Our neighbors on Knowlton Street have been watching the demolition from lawn chairs and have enjoyed watching the old building come down as the new one slowly is slowly revealed from behind.

The classroom wing, art, library, band and music areas in the new building are getting their final finishes and contractors are now going through final punch list items.

The gymnasium floor will go through a flatness test this week and then prepped for installation. Ceiling work around the building is in various stages. The band and music rooms are complete, the suspended wood ceiling in the theater is being installed, and the cafeteria’s wood ceiling is nearing completion.

The wood ceiling in the cafeteria matches the section of wood ceiling in the library – both look beautiful. As a proud nod to our coastal location, a huge nautical chart of Penobscot Bay will be installed on the end wall of the cafeteria in the next couple of weeks.

Outside the building, the roof and siding are in punch list mode. The construction access road will be removed this week to make way for the baseball outfield/soccer field. We were happy to see the removal of the two portable classrooms behind the MET building recently, and the one by the Bus Barn will be removed in early August.

JBI, the landscape contractor, is working diligently on the playground and has recently installed paths, stone walls, and grass seed. The playground is truly a work of art!

In a little over a month, the classroom wing will be turned over to the district with the admin wing, gym, and mini-theater following a little less than a month after that. We are still on schedule to hoping our students will be able to enter the building on September 8, 2020. We look forward to celebrating with the community in late fall if we are able.

Again, I want to thank the community for supporting this project – it has been a long journey, but so worth it. We plan to go out to bid on the MET renovation project in mid-summer and begin that project in early November.