Lewiston school officials present $3.9 million LCIP request, propose $1 million concept plan for 287 Main Street

Superintendent Langelis and Executive Director Grant told a Tuesday evening joint workshop that Lewiston Public Schools submitted a $3.9 million Local Capital Improvement Program (LCIP) request to the city to address space and maintenance needs as enrollment grows.

The district said it removed a previously proposed $940,000 security fence from the current ask and is seeking $1 million to develop a formal concept plan and engineering work for 287 Main Street to evaluate converting existing space for classrooms and community use.

The concept-plan request would fund professional assessments, drawings and code reviews that district leaders said would help them fundraise and advance a renovation or renovation-to-permit stage more quickly. “We shared, we shared 3.9 million dollars worth of LCIP request with the city council at our joint meeting here a while back,” Superintendent Langelis said, describing the purpose of the workshop to answer council questions. Executive Director Grant confirmed the fence was removed: “Yes, that was a $940,000 ask but we believe we can we can live without that.”

Why it matters: councilors and school staff said the district is balancing immediate building needs and long-term decisions about whether to renovate existing buildings, add modular classrooms or build new facilities. Those choices have large cost implications and could affect a future bond referendum.

Details and debate

• Scope and next steps for 287 Main Street: District officials said the $1 million request is intended to produce a stamped concept or architecture plan that could be used for permitting and to support fundraising. The superintendent described the budget as intended to move from an initial assessment to detailed engineering and community-informed designs.

• Cost estimates discussed: staff cited a prior assessment that renovating 287 Main Street for student use could cost about $14 million (assessment from roughly a year earlier) and included a multi-year planning figure of $22 million in future LCIP lines. By contrast, building a new facility on a greenfield site was described as having a low-range estimate over $40 million. Councilors pressed for clarity about whether the million-dollar request would be used mainly for design or construction; staff said it would be for concept and design work and that any construction would require future appropriations or a bond/referendum.

• Modular classrooms and enrollment: Councilors asked whether proposed expansions would be part of a bond referendum. School staff confirmed LCIP items that lead to new construction would be presented via referendum if they moved to that stage.

• Other school projects discussed: Councilors reviewed multiple capital items in the LCIP request, including replacement of tennis courts (budgeted at $1.5 million for full tear-out, new subbase, drainage, lighting and surfaces), targeted roof projects at Lewiston High School and Lewiston Middle School, ADA entrances and walkway improvements, and restroom reconfigurations at the middle school and two older elementary schools. On bathrooms, staff described options including single-stall fixtures and phased design work; a $200,000 allocation this year was described as primarily for design with a potential $1 million implementation line in 2027.

• School zone flashing lights: Administrator O’Malley clarified during council discussion that the planned replacement of school-zone flashing lights would come from the city operating budget rather than LCIP funds.

Councilor concerns and requests

Council members repeatedly pressed for clearer cost breakdowns and for confirmation of which items would be advanced to bond or referendum. Councilor Chittum asked for a line-item justification for the $1 million concept request; staff compared it to prior concept/design allocations used for other public buildings and said similar projects have landed in the $1 million range. Councilor Nejean asked whether modular units planned for Montello remain on a schedule and whether the district’s specialized programs are drawing students from other communities.

Next steps

Staff said a facilities assessment by Harriman is scheduled to kick off next month; that assessment will interview school staff and feed into decisions about space optimization and future LCIP submissions. School leaders said they will continue fundraising and seek nonlocal grants and other funding sources before committing to large construction phases.

Ending

No formal vote was taken at the workshop; councilors and school staff closed the session after questions and agreed to continue refining cost estimates and priorities before any item would move to a formal appropriation or referendum vote.