By David Harry

Staff Writer

The expanded and reconstructed South Portland High School is virtually ready, and visitors are invited to see how the project is shaping up at an open house 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. May 31.

The 3-D rendering of the project, presented by a school building committee formed in January, will be on view in the high school cafeteria. Construction will begin next spring and be completed in 2015.

Justine Carlisle, chairman of the communications subcommittee for the project, said viewers will get a better understanding of the construction phases during a walking tour of the new library, cafeteria, classrooms and Beal Gymnasium.

 “It’s astonishing to see how the building has evolved,” Carlisle said.

Carlisle has supported the project from the time she began working with Renew SPHS, a political action group that last fall advocated passage of the $41.5 million construction bond.

Voters by a 61-39 percent margin last November approved a bond for the majority of the $47 million project. Interest and principal payments on the 20-year bond are estimated to be about $61 million.

South Portland School Board Chairman Ralph Baxter Jr. created the high school building committee and asked volunteers  to provide input to the construction process led by Auburn-based Harriman Architects and Engineers. 

Baxter said more than 100 people signed up for subcommittees on energy efficiency and environmentally friendly practices, technology in the new library and classrooms, kitchen and cafeteria design and interior finish work.

Subcommittee members include school board members, city councilors, Mayor Rosemarie De Angelis and faculty. Carlisle said city residents have volunteered a breadth of experience and information to the project and design details.

“Community support was the key, but the continued involvement has been a surprise,” Carlisle said.

South Portland resident Kirsten McWilliams, who is working with the green energy/efficiency building subcommittee, said she had the opportunity to make sure composting and recycling will be a daily part of high school life. At the same time, McWilliams said she learned more about energy-efficient construction methods.

“It has been incredibly educating to me personally,” she said.

The planning process is especially complex because the subcommittee weighs the upfront cost of energy efficient construction with long-term savings in energy use, she said. 

“Here is a great opportunity to start anew and create a new template,” she said.

McWilliams, who teaches English at Portland’s Deering High School, said the subcommittee sought ways to make the school compliant with Lead in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, standards created by the U.S. Green Building Council. 

She said the subcommittee also discussed how to balance less visible yet more energy efficient construction ideas with methods the public can easily see and appreciate.

She said visitors will likely be impressed by how much the building uses natural light to enhance the environment for students and staff.

Mahoney Middle School Librarian Connie Burns is part of the library/media center and technology subcommittee, a task she said requires her to consider the near and distant future.

“I’m just really interested in what libraries will look like,” said Burns, who also coordinates K-12 library operations for city schools.

The subcommittee is considering how physical space and a power grid fit into future learning in the library and classrooms, Burns said.

Flexibility and capacity are keys Burns said, because new learning techniques may focus on smaller groups that use advanced information technology.

“I don’t think print is dead by any means,” Burns said, but she’s realized  after viewing new library plans and researching articles on learning trends that her students and staff will use new learning space differently.

The open house will show the future of the high school, but the evening will give a nod to the past as well. Carlisle said visitors have been asked to bring high school memorabilia, including old uniforms, souvenirs and photos, to display when construction is finished.

Burns and McWilliams each said they enjoyed participating on subcommittees and believe the virtual hour will be a success.

“I think people will be just blown away when they see it,” Burns said.