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Gilman Place project progressing

Former school being transformed into affordable housing

By Amy Calder acalder@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

WATERVILLE -- Construction is in full swing to turn the former Gilman Street School into 35 affordable apartments.

click image to enlarge

Workers sandblast mortar around bricks on the backside of the former Gilman Street School in Waterville as the new Gilman Place affordable-housing project continues.

Staff photo by David Leaming

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Assistant project manager J.P. Schwartz walks past window trim that is being stored in the old gymnasium at the former Gilman Street School in Waterville as work continues on the new Gilman Place facility on Wednesday. The original wood trim will be reused.

Staff photo by David Leaming

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The $10 million project to restore the building to historic standards started in April and is expected to be completed in February, according to developer Kevin Bunker.

"It's going to be spectacular, actually," Bunker said Wednesday at the site.

Bunker and his partners, Richard Berman and Jim Hatch, of Developers Collaborative, of Portland, have worked more than two years on plans for the historic building. It will be called Gilman Place.

It once was Waterville High School and then was used for various purposes, including a superintendent's office, kindergarten classes and police department storage.

Allied Cook Construction, of Scarborough, is the construction manager for the project. Matt Cook, an owner of Allied, and assistant project manager J.P. Schwartz, also of Allied, joined Bunker Wednesday for a tour of the site.

"The largest process at the beginning was abatement of hazardous materials -- asbestos, lead -- and interior demolition," Cook said. "Right now, we're doing a little of everything. The outside masonry is being repaired, a lot of earthwork, the parking lots are being rebuilt, utilities being run. And, as you can see, all the windows have been removed."

The windows on the Gilman Street side of the building are being restored and will be returned to their spots, according to Cook. All the other windows will be removed and replaced with new windows that look just like the original ones.

"So, we'll have the old, historic look," he said.

Local companies were hired for much of the work. Jacobs Glass of Winslow is doing all the windows, and Standard Waterproofing of Waterville is doing the masonry work, according to Cook. Allied also hired three area carpenters for its crew, he said.

Cook's company is turning old school buildings in Scarborough and Portland into housing as well. He said the Gilman Street School was well-built.

"I think it's a beautiful building," he said. "The old buildings -- they're just interesting -- the architecture, the way they were built, how long they've lasted."

Bunker, who attended many meetings of city officials and the public when the Gilman project was being considered, said it is gratifying to see the progress.

"To be here and to come down the street and look at what's happening on this building and look at all the activity -- it's really cool. It's very rewarding," he said.

Some neighbors objected to the project during its planning phases, saying they feared it would increase traffic and crime, create noise and congestion and devalue their homes; other neighbors supported the development, maintaining it would bring much-needed housing to the city. Some neighbors during construction have complained about dust and noise from the site.

The school was built in 1913 as Waterville High and remained so until the early 1960s. It actually is three buildings, separate but connected. The west wing was built in 1936; the east section, which includes the gymnasium, in 1939. The 43,000-square-foot building sits on 2.5 acres.

"We're trying to get the weather-sensitive work done right now and focus on interior work when it gets colder," Cook said.

He and Bunker said the hallways and stairwells will remain in place, because they are an important part of the historic-preservation project.

"The most important things are the things you see first," Bunker said, referring to features of the building whose historic nature must be maintained. "You have more leeway for doing things in secondary places."

Secondary places include former classrooms, which are being turned into one, two and three-bedroom apartments. The original doors and trim in the building have been removed and placed in the gymnasium to be kept until they are restored and returned to their original spots. Some of the chalkboards also will be placed back in the building to reflect the building's original purpose.

The room formerly used for Waterville Board of Education meetings will be an apartment. Large windows that had been boarded up in that room are now uncovered, letting in a lot of light. Many boarded-up windows elsewhere in the building have been uncovered.

"You can see just how much light these units are going to have," Cook said.

The old gymnasium inside the school will house a Bounce Zone, which features inflated equipment for children. Hardwood floors will be restored where possible and an elevator installed as part of the plans.

Coastal Enterprises, Inc., a nonprofit organization, actually owns the building and Developers Collaborative works for that organization, Bunker said.

MaineHousing awarded competitive federal tax credits to the project and controls the project's funding, Hatch said. Preservation Management, of South Portland, will manage the apartments, which will be rented to people earning between about $20,000 and $37,000 annually. The cost for renting the units will be between about $435 and $745 a month.

David King, a construction analyst for MaineHousing, said the agency is thrilled to be working on Gilman Place.

"It's a great project -- excellent reuse of the building," he said.

The project focuses heavily on energy efficiency. Spray foam is being used to insulate the building, solar panels will be installed in the roof, and a high-efficiency gas boiler, light fixtures and appliances will be installed, Cook said.

Amy Calder -- 861-9247

acalder@centralmaine.com