The Gorham School Department signed a $285,000 deal last week to buy 26 acres off Sebago Lake Road for a new elementary school.
A new school for kindergarten through Grade 5 would replace the overcrowded White Rock School. The school is ranked No. 10 on the state’s list for help.
The land selected for the proposed school, near the intersection of Stevens Drive and Sebago Lake Road, is owned by Walter Stevens. Estimated cost of the school is pegged at about $21 million.
The proposal needs approval from Gorham voters. “We’re starting to run a marathon,” said Jim Hager, chairman of the Gorham School Committee.
Hager said the project would likely go to Gorham voters in a September referendum. In straw polls, Gorham will vote on the site selection at 7 p.m. on Monday, April 28, and a concept design on Thursday, May 29.
The process seeking a new school began in December 2005. Norm Justice, the former town council chairman who negotiated the land acquisition, is pleased with that agreement reached on the site, which is in the Little Falls-White Rock corridor. “Time was running out to get it to referendum this fall,” Justice said.
Target opening date for a new school would be the fall of 2011.
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