Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Maine High School Starts Construction on $4.3M Athletic Complex

  • By Matt Jones
  • 07/19/22

Kennebunk High School in Kennebunk, Maine, recently began work on a new $4.3-million athletic complex. Local news reports that voters approved a portion of the funding for the new project in May and approved the district’s overall operating budget in June. RSU 21 School Board Chair Art LeBlanc called the project “very exciting and long overdue,” as the existing athletic complex has fallen into disrepair in recent years.

During a presentation earlier this year, LeBlanc outlined some of the problems with the current facilities. The track was built in 2004 and is cracked and filled with holes. The bleachers were built in 2006, are not structurally sound and are not ADA-compliant. The 1980s-era lights are outdated, and poles have been damaged by wildlife. Finally, the field has drainage issues and is currently unusable for competition.

According to local news, the new complex will feature synthetic turf to support the school’s football, soccer, lacrosse and field-hockey teams. The turf is made of virgin EPDM material and is free of PSA toxins, as well as the contaminants usually associated with recycled rubber.

New home-side bleachers will cost $258,000, while another portable set will cost $170,000. A new press box will cost $212,000, the new lighting system $368,000, and track upgrades $125,000. Funding for the project is coming from $2.8 million from the district’s capital reserve fund, as well as $1.2 million left over from a previous construction project and another $250,000 previously allocated for track repairs.

The district partnered with CHA Consulting, Inc. to design and engineer the complex’s renovations in participation with local firms Sebago Technics and S.W. Cole. Further details about the project are available on the Maine Regional School Unit 21 website.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • St. John Fisher University

    Classroom Revitalization – Basil Hall Room 216

    Established in 1999, the Education Design Showcase is a vehicle for showing off innovative — yet practical — solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction. St. John Fisher University's Basil Hall Room 216 Classroom Revitalization has been recognized with an EDS 2026 Project of Distinction award in the category of Spaces.

  • Minnesota District Opens New PreK–12 School

    Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop Schools in Gibbon, Minn., recently announced that construction is complete on a new, $68.9-million school for students in grades PreK–12, according to a news release.

  • Rethinking K-12 Schools as a Continuous Learning Experience

    Most students move through three or more separate facilities during their K-12 journey, yet the built environments they encounter at each stage have traditionally been designed in isolation, with little continuity in spatial language, learning philosophy, or physical resources. Each new school is a reset with different layouts, learning models, expectations, and ways of moving through a building. The next generation of school design is making the case that the first day of kindergarten and the last day of high school can and should feel connected through common support systems and infrastructure in the physical environment.

  • Higher Ed is Betting on New Buildings While Quietly Undermining Their Campuses — Here’s Why

    In this climate, the owner’s representative has changed from a delivery-focused advisor to a strategic campus partner. Institutions are increasingly relying on owner’s reps not just to manage, cope, schedule, and budget, but also help evaluate whether a project should proceed at all.