Staff Writer

 Biddeford High School students will have new spaces to explore when they return from vacation.

The first area completed as part of the school’s $32 million renovation project will open to students next week and the school’s new front entrance and administrative area are expected to open at the end of May. Ledgewood Construction is expected to complete the entire project in August 2012, said Project Manager Scott Clark.

As Clark and Steve Claffie of Ledgewood led a tour of the project last week, choral and band students carried uniforms and equipment to new music rooms. The area includes a band room, chorus room, two practice rooms, staff office and storage areas.

Choral Director Gary Marcet said he is “absolutely psyched” to see the new space. He said students are excited to move into the area, which includes soundproof walls and more storage.

 “They’re like kids in a candy store,” he said.

Claffie said construction workers can tell how excited students are to move into renovated areas of the school. In the week before vacation, students gathered at the ends of the hallway that lead to the music rooms to watch the progress, he said.

Superintendent Sarah-Jane Poli said she loves the “bright and cheery” orange walls in the renovated area and thinks the community will be proud of the project.

“I think it’s lovely. It’s just fantastic,” she said. “It is a plus for the Biddeford community.”

Poli said students and staff are appreciative the community saw the need for renovation and supported the idea. She said the excitement shows on students’ faces.

“They’ve been in an old building for so long,” she said.

Poli  said Principal Britton Wolfe is working with staff to develop rules to maintain classrooms once they are renovated. Teachers will not be allowed to use tape or push pins to hang posters on the wall or keep plants in their classrooms. Wolfe also will take photographs of existing student murals to hang in the school after those areas are renovated and the murals are removed, she said.

Clark said project plans call for workers to gut the building of existing electrical, heating and air systems. All areas will receive new walls, floors and systems and will meet life safety and handicap accessibility codes. The project is being done in nine phases, with the heaviest work done when students are not in school

In the original 1961 section of the building, near Steve White Gym, crews replaced the curtain window wall with new aluminum windows. The exterior of the building now has alternating sections of red and black brick in place of the blue and white window walls. Clark said the new windows will prevent heat loss.

The new main entrance of the school includes a spacious lobby with a two-story wall of windows that overlook Maplewood Avenue and the track across the street. Poli said the new entrance will provide more security than the current office, which is not in view of the front doors. 

The school’s new library is located above the office and lobby area. The library, lined with walls of windows, is larger than the current space. Poli said school officials wanted to create an inviting space for both high school and adult education students.

The renovation project began last summer and is now transitioning between phases four and five in most parts of the building, Clark said. The school has received complaints about air quality from several students since the project began and Ledgewood has worked closely with school officials to address concerns, he said.

Poli said Bill Turner of the Turner Group was at the school last week to speak with a teacher who requested to be interviewed about chronic problems. A student also asked to be interviewed as part of Turner’s investigation but was not because a parent was not available. Students younger than 18 must be accompanied by a parent.

The Biddeford School Committee in March hired Turner to investigate air quality concerns at the school. Poli said Turner will be at the school this week to look for mold reservoirs. If any are found, he will deal with them during a followup visit April 28 and 29, she said.

“He told me yesterday he thinks everything is looking good,” Poli said.

 Staff Writer Gillian Graham can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 213.