Auburn high school students, faculty and staff will kick off their new school year this week in a brand new state-of-the-art facility that replaces the old school built in 1961.
With a price tag of $126 million, Principal Scott Annear said it’s the biggest and most expensive high school ever built in Maine. Costs rose during construction, which coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic and after contaminants were discovered in the old building that required abatement.
The new high school includes a 1,200-seat auditorium, athletic fields and enhanced safety measures. Kristin Bishop with the Maine Board of Education said the school is planning innovative career and technical education programming.
“With plans to open innovative programs in cosmetology, culinary arts, EMT, early childhood education over the next year and to expand into firefighting, precision machining, biotechnology and composites manufacturing as well as trades exploration and medical exploration in years to come, this space will provide rigorous training and learning opportunities for students that align with the region’s economic priorities and community needs,” she said.
Enhanced safety features also have been incorporated in the building’s design.
“Everything from painted floors to identify safe spaces to the amount of security that’s been put into the front entryway and cutting out having multiple access points to the building. There are exits only and not entries,” Annear said.
Hundreds of community members got a chance to tour the building Sunday afternoon following a ribbon-cutting ceremony held in the shadow of the old Edward Little High School, which is scheduled to be demolished in the next few months.
This article appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.
