Demolition, new construction, renovation and addition to a mixed-use development in Bar Harbor, Maine. Conceptual plans call for the renovation of a 64,500-square-foot educational facility; for the addition of a 83,000-square-foot educational facility; for the demolition of a educational facility; for the construction of a 81,000-square-foot educational facility; and 81,000-square-foot educational facility.

https://www.bangordailynews.com/2023/06/13/news/hancock/bar-harbor-school-bond/ Bar Harbor voters approve $58M school construction bond In this April 30, 2019, file photo, the main entrance to the Conners building at the K-8 Conners Emerson School is seen in Bar Harbor. The school dates to the early 1950s. Credit: Bill Trotter / BDN Bar Harbor voters Tuesday approved a $58 million bond request to construct a new school to replace the current Conners Emerson School. The measure passed 1,005 to 502. The approval of the bond will allow the project to move ahead but town officials will have to put the project out to bid for construction, which likely will take a couple of years. Built in the 1950s, Conners Emerson School is a K through 8 school split into two buildings with a host of problems. School officials have said the current buildings have little-to-no insulation in classroom walls, outdated boilers, insufficient air exchange, inadequate water pipes, and leaky roofs that need frequent repair. This past winter, the school library was closed indefinitely because of poor air quality caused by water leaking into the library walls. The buildings also lack gender-neutral bathrooms, adequate program space for one-on-one instruction, and a dedicated gathering space aside from the gym and cafeteria. In January, the Bar Harbor town council balked at a preliminary $70 million estimate for the project, which took into account rising construction costs and other associated costs like engineering, fees, furnishing and technology. At the time, members of the building committee said they would work with Lisa Sawin, a Portland architect consulting with the school department on the project, to reduce the projected cost of the project before it went to voters. ___________________________________________________________________ Four options are under consideration to repair, add on to, or replace the aging Conners and Emerson school buildings at Conners Emerson School. The options range in price from $9.6 million for renovation, to $32 million for a new building to house the entire school (currently grades K - 8). As of July 26 2022, this project was abandoned.