A South Portland company is on a streak of school construction projects, with several jobs finished and more on the way. Meanwhile, work on a $50 million water treatment plant is getting underway.
Get Instant Access to This Article
Subscribe to Mainebiz and get immediate access to all of our subscriber-only content and much more.
- Critical Maine business news updated daily.
- Immediate access to all subscriber-only content on our website.
- Bi-weekly print or digital editions of our award-winning publication.
- Special bonus issues like the Mainebiz Book of Lists.
- Exclusive ticket prize draws for our in-person events.
Click here to purchase a paywall bypass link for this article.
As the new school year starts, many students will be going into new schools built by Ledgewood Construction.
The South Portland firm just completed an elementary school in Brunswick and a middle school in the Camden-Rockport district. It’s working school additions in Yarmouth and Winslow, and just won a new contract to expand a school in Lewiston.
“Construction hasn’t slowed down,” says Lisa Beeler, business development director for Ledgewood.
While the industry faces questions how much future commercial work there will be, school work remains a constant. Still, the pandemic has posed obstacles for school construction projects.
“For us, there were periods when we were stop-go, stop-go,” Beeler says.
Having students studying remotely allowed workers to fast-track aspects of work. But the Canadian border closings temporarily cut off the supply of some key building materials, including steel I-beams. That has been resolved and job sites are again receiving materials, she says.
Here’s a look at Ledgewood’s lineup of school projects.
- Completed: Kate Furbish Elementary School was a $20.3 million, 91,000-square-school for Brunswick. Classes were scheduled to start Sept. 14.
- Completed: Camden-Rockport Middle School was a $32 million, 83,400-square-foot project. Ledgewood is still overseeing demolition of old school buildings, but school was scheduled to start Sept. 14.
- Completed: Winslow Junior High was an $8 million, 39,000-square-foot wing that now ties the junior high to the existing high school building. Ledgewood also did renovations on elementary school. Students are back in school.
- Under construction: Yarmouth High School, a $12.1 million addition and renovation. School has started, but the work areas have been closed off from school areas. Completion is set for January 2021.
- Future: Ledgewood was just awarded the Lewiston High School contract, which calls for a $9.5 million expansion and renovation It will include a 33,000-square-foot addition and 10,000-square-foot renovation. Work will start soon, before the weather gets bad.
All these projects in different places require coordination. Senior project manager Scott Clark was responsible for the school work in Brunswick, Winslow and now Yarmouth. He works directly with the senior superintendent at each site, Beeler says.
Ledgewood, which has 15 permanent employees, is independently owned by Peter Bernard. Pete Pelletier, the president, manages the day-to-day operations.
MWH Constructors will manage $50 million water site
MWH Constructors will oversee construction of Maine Water Co.’s $50 million water treatment plant. The Saco River Drinking Water Treatment Facility, as it will be known, will serve 40,000 residents of Biddeford, Old Orchard Beach, Saco and Scarborough. When it opens in Spring 2022, it will replace a system that dates to 1884. MWH, which is based in Broomfield, Colo., and has Maine offices in Biddeford and Topsham, specializes in water-treatment plants.