On Aug. 6, the Town Council voted (6-1) to send a $12,035,825 bond referendum to Gorham voters for the Nov. 5 election, a reduction of $4 million from the $16.7 million requested by the School Committee. Chairperson Suzanne Phillips stated that even at this reduced amount, she could not support the proposal.
Improvements to Gorham High School (GHS) would include an expanded cafeteria, six classrooms for GHS students, bathrooms, a utility room, and an adult education classroom for a total cost of $9.3 million. Built in 1959, the school has been expanded several times to accommodate a student enrollment of 750, which by last year had risen to just over 800. Superintendent Heather Perry anticipates that the number will grow to 900 by 2027. Expansion plans have been under discussion for at least ten years, including a proposed major $72 million renovation in 2019 that a building committee chose not to bring forward.
The referendum also includes $460,575 to replace HVAC equipment at Narragansett Elementary School. These units at the 44-year-old school are failing and will need to be replaced. According to Perry, the district has three project applications out to the state for new construction, but even if funded “it would take ten years to get into those buildings. And as time goes forward, costs go forward,” she said.
New tennis courts were in the proposal at a cost of $2.5 million with plans to relocate them from GHS to the Gorham Middle School (GMS) where there is space available for the five courts requested. Tim Spears, GHS athletic director, reported that the existing courts are in such poor condition that they can no longer be resurfaced and must be replaced to accommodate more than 55 students currently in the program and to be able to host varsity matches. Moving the courts to GMS would also free up land at the high school for future modular expansion. The public would use the new courts, as they do at the two courts located at Little Falls Recreation Area which are not suitable for inter-school matches.
Councilor Phil Gagnon proposed that the courts be relocated to Robie Park, which he said would make construction of the five courts and lighting less expensive. There are two “ball courts,” indicated on the Robie Park Master Plan, each a little larger than a regulation tennis court. The Master Plan was adopted by the Town Council in March after more than a year of planning by the Robie Park Master Plan Steering Committee with extensive community input.
The Town Council voted (7-0) to amend the referendum proposal to change the location of the tennis courts from GMS to Robie Park and charged a committee of two Town Council members and two School Committee members to work out the details.
After discussion about including sidewalk replacement and parking lot expansion at GHS and Village and Great Falls elementary schools, the council decided to reduce the bond request by $3.4 million and eliminate them. This included an access drive to White Birch Lane from Village School. The council recognized traffic congestion and potential safety issues at these school sites and agreed to investigate paving with cooperative funding between the schools and the town.
The Town Council will hold a public hearing on the referendum question before Election Day, Nov. 5. The date for the public hearing is yet to be determined.