By J.W. Oliver
The Cable-Burns Applied Technology and Engineering Center at Lincoln Academy nears completion Tuesday, March 3. Classes will begin in the new building March 16. (J.W. Oliver photo) |
Lincoln Academy students have moved into a new dormitory on campus and the first classes inside the school’s state-of-the-art technology center will start this month.
The two new buildings on the Newcastle campus are the first new free-standing buildings on the campus since 1834, according to architect Tor Glendinning. At a total
cost of about $10 million, the buildings also represent the most expensive construction project in school history.
Lincoln Academy Head of School David Sturdevant and Glendinning led a tour of the two buildings Tuesday, March 3. Construction continues on the buildings, although
the school expects both to reach completion soon.
Classes will start in the 10,300-square-foot Cable-Burns Applied Technology and Engineering Center on the first day of the third trimester – March 16.
The school will move a few existing classes into the center for the first trimester and add classes in the next academic year. The 2015-2016 schedule already
includes Introduction to Engineering and a series of robotics classes.
The school hopes to have every student take at least one class in the new center. It also intends to open the center to the community, with courses available to the
public after school and on evenings and weekends.
L.A. currently employs one industrial arts teacher, Shawn St. Cyr. His classes will move from the basement of the Nelson W. Bailey Gymnasium into the center.
The school plans to hire a building director and a second full-time faculty member to teach classes in the center.
Faculty from other departments will teach classes in the center, like computer classes, digital photography, math, and science, and the school plans to bring in
individuals from the community to teach classes in their area of expertise.
The technology center features a two-bay automotive lab with a single permanent lift and multiple movable lifts available for use in the automotive lab or for boat-
building projects in the woodworking lab.
The center’s boiler room is behind the auto lab. An efficient geothermal system heats and cools the building. High-efficiency lights, passive solar heat, thick
insulation, and the building’s construction into a hillside all contribute to its overall efficiency.
Together, the technology center and the dorm – which features a highly efficient propane heating system and all-LED lighting – are now the most energy-efficient
buildings on campus, according to Glendinning.
Next to the automotive lab is a metal fabrication lab, where students will work with lathes, machine parts, and learn how to weld. Students will even be able to plug
a lathe into a port and control it through a computer to shape metal to a certain specification.
The woodworking lab next door will have equipment like planers and table saws. The school hopes to partner with boat-builders in the community to offer a marine
woodworking program.
On the other side of the building lobby from the labs, a 1,500-square-foot classroom is now the biggest classroom on campus. It will likely house math, robotics, and
science classes, as well as meetings.
A large, high-tech computer-aided drafting lab will also be home to computer and digital photography classes, all ready to start in the third trimester. The nearby
digital fabrication lab will feature 3-D printers and other technology.
The $2.7 million center is unique in Midcoast Maine. Neither Glendinning nor Sturdevant could call to mind any nearby school that offers a similar facility.
“As far as the space and the flexibility and what we’re going to be doing and what we’re going to be able to do, I think it’s pretty cutting-edge,” Sturdevant said.
The technology center will also free up the space under the gymnasium. The school is considering building an athletic training room and new locker room. The space
will also become the new home of the facilities department.
Across a new, 80-space parking lot is the dormitory courtyard, where the school will host special events, and the rear entrance to the new dormitory.
A construction crew works on the roof of the new dormitory at Lincoln Academy in Newcastle Tuesday, March 3. The school will hold a ribbon-cutting for the dorm and the nearby technology center in April. (J.W. Oliver photo) |
The dorm lobby is a flexible space that could host movie screenings or special events. Lobby features include a projection screen, surround sound, and ports to plug in an iPad
or other devices for a PowerPoint presentation.
The lobby furniture is all easily movable. The tables fold and roll, so staff can easily set up tables for a meeting with 40 people, then fold the tables up and roll
them into the elevator for storage in the basement.
The first floor also includes a mailroom for all on-campus residents, an infirmary with a bed and private bathroom, a bigger and better business office, a new office
for the director of resident life, and a catering kitchen.
The dormitory has five neighborhoods. Every neighborhood includes a dorm parent apartment, a lounge, and bathroom and laundry facilities. The building has an
elevator and six stairwells, including private stairways that go directly to dorm parent apartments.
A lounge in the “green neighborhood” of the new dormitory at Lincoln Academy. (J.W. Oliver photo |
The approximately $6 million building currently houses 40 students and 17 non-students – faculty “dorm parents” and their families. The school expects the numbers to increase to
54 and 24 – roughly capacity – in the fall.
The students live in 24 double rooms and two triples. The dorm parents occupy two three-bedroom apartments on the first floor and two more on the second. The
director of resident life’s quarters and a one-bedroom dorm parent apartment are on the third floor.
Boys and girls live in separate areas of the building. The design of the building allows for flexibility depending on enrollment numbers.
A large basement provides storage for dorm parents, summer storage for students, a file storage room, and general storage for the school.
The building has a 10,000-square-foot footprint. With the basement and three above-ground floors, the total area is 40,000 square feet.
Some work remains for the dorm, including the installation of siding on the back side of the building.
Lincoln Academy will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new buildings April 17. The school will offer public tours after the ceremony.
