LEWISTON — Lewiston got a look Wednesday at the final rendering of the new school when architect Jeff Larimer unveiled the image for the Building Committee.

The $49.7 million school, approved by voters on June 14, will be built on the high school football field. The state will build new athletic fields and community walking paths as part of the project.

The school will have a capacity of 880 students, about 100 more than Montello Elementary School. It will be the city’s largest elementary school.

The school is needed to help relieve overcrowding, since all of Lewiston schools are full and enrollment has grown by about 125 students in the past six years. It will house students from Martel and Longley elementary schools, plus take in about another 100 students from other schools.

The school’s outside walls will be red brick with gray accents, designed to resemble the exterior of the nearby Lewiston High School. The brick will be made in Maine, Building Committee Chairman Tom Shannon said.

“I like it — it’s nice,” committee member Ronnie Paradis said after looking at sketches.

Students at Martel and Longley elementary schools need the quality space the new building will provide, she said.

“This is exciting,” she said.

There will be three playgrounds for different age groups.

One end of the school will have two long academic wings. Grades prekindergarten to two will be on the lower floor; grades three to six, on the upper floor. The gymnasium, cafeteria, art and music classrooms will be at the other end of the building. The library and central office will be in the center.

The new school is expected to open in the fall of 2019.

“When we started in 2014, it was five years away,” Shannon said. “Now it’s knocking at the doorstep.”

Construction bids are expected to go out in April, Shannon said. If all goes well, he expects crews to break ground in May or June.

“This has been a long process,” he said. “A lot of people have dedicated a lot of time to this. Frequently those who do the grunge work don’t get the glory.”

Members of the Building Committee are assigned different tasks, such as designing the interior or the athletic fields.

Lewiston School Department teachers, administrators and other staff have been extremely involved in discussions about what the inside of the school will look like, and how to make it welcoming to students, Shannon said.

The eight main halls will each be painted a soft color that represents a different tourism region of Maine.

For instance, the hallway representing the mountains and lakes region, which includes Androscoggin County, will be painted light green; southern Maine beaches, lavender; and Downeast and Acadia, yellow.

Fourth-grade students learn about Maine’s eight zones as they study their state, said Longley Principal Kristie Clark, a building committee member.

Committee members have visited other schools to get ideas, such as whether to use tile or a new kind of lightweight carpeting for flooring.

A new kind of carpeting is thin, durable and can be easily cleaned. 

“It helps reduce noise levels in classrooms,” Shannon said. “It lasts longer, but costs more.”

The school’s front entrance will face East Avenue. Parents dropping off students will do so from a Bartlett Street entrance.

Buses will arrive later than those at the high school, because the two schools won’t have the same start time, Shannon said.

School Committee Chairwoman Linda Scott said Wednesday night that she would announce the members of a committee which will choose the school’s name at the next committee meeting Monday, Jan. 23.

“It’s important we have people from the public on it and have input from students,” Shannon said.

With the groundbreaking ceremony months away, he said it’s too early to get excited.

“When I see the first excavation machine dig a hole on the 50-yard line, that may be cause to take my wife to dinner,” he said. 

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