LEWISTON — Monday marked a new era for Lewiston Middle School, the opening of the new addition, the first phase of a major $9.1 million renovation.

The renovation on the front of the school provides 8,731 square feet to accommodate a growing student population. It’s the first major renovation since the school opened more than 80 years ago. Old, smelly bathrooms are being replaced and a new ventilation system was added.

On Monday, after climbing old, dented stairs next to walls where the plaster is falling, then passing through dark, dingy halls, seventh-graders walked into Erik Anderson’s new second-floor classroom where big windows let in ample natural light.

Students gave the new addition an A.

“It’s awesome!” Jamal Abdi said, looking out windows that showed off the tree tops and the Central Avenue neighborhood.

“It’s nice,” Asad Abukar said.

“This is as nice as anything you could find in downtown Portland architecture,” Anderson said. The design of the addition pays homage to the classic red brick building opened in 1931 as Lewiston High School. One set of walls on the addition are what used to be the outside of the original building.

“It’s really cool. You have the original architecture then this sharp contrast of modern structure,” Anderson said. “It’s a neat blend.”

When all of the building is renovated later this year or in early 2015, the classroom space on the second floor will become the library. Shuffling classes around as different sections of the building are completed will save $150,000 by avoiding the use of portable classrooms, Superintendent Bill Webster said.

A few doors down from Anderson, art teacher Kay Allison was in a new art room.

“It’s an awesome space,” Allison said. “The lighting is great. It’s beautiful,” she said over the noise of construction workers installing soap dispensers by the sinks.

The most noticeable change of the new addition is the Central Avenue entrance.

After climbing stairs, visitors face six gleaming steel doors. Only one on the right was unlocked Monday morning. Once entering that door, visitors face a second set of locked doors, and smiling school receptionist Linda Cote.

Before buzzing them in, she greeted visitors, instructing them to identify themselves, sign in and get a visitor’s pass. Large windows that surround Cote allow her to see anyone at the entrance and on the street. “The view’s fantastic,” Cote said. “I love the view.”

School police officer Corey Jacques said the new entrance improves security. “We have one main entrance, a video camera, the safety is better,” Jacques said. “Out of my office I can see everything now.”

Before the renovation, visitors had to go to the second floor to see office staff. “Anybody could come up the stairs,” Cote said.

Retired teacher and ed tech Anita Murphy said she attended school in the building when it was Lewiston High School.

“Class of 1960,” Murphy said. “I’m glad they decided to keep it and update.” She liked the new entrance. “It’s very inviting and friendly.”

Construction crews will now renovate the original building, one section at a time. Plans call for new bathrooms for students and the public near the auditorium used for community plays.

There will be an expanded cafeteria, an efficient heating system, new walls, new lockers and a ventilation system providing healthier air flow. Gone will be webs of exposed wires, pipes and plumbing added after the 1930s.

The $9.1 million cost is being paid for by local property taxpayers, who approved the work during a July 2010 referendum. Building a new school would have cost between $40 million to $50 million.

bwashuk@sunjournal.com

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