The following was submitted March 20 by Camden-Rockport School Administrative District 28 Superintendent Maria Libby:

A couple of weeks ago the school district received the detailed professional cost estimate for the Elm Street School Teacher Housing renovation project. Our working number for this project for the past year, derived from the architect’s best estimate and a rough cost estimation, had been $3 million.

Determined to avoid any additional cost to taxpayers, our financing plan included using some Capital Reserve money, taking out a long-term construction loan whose repayment the rental income would cover, and fundraising approximately $700,000. 

The comprehensive cost estimate came in at $4.3 million, 43% higher than originally expected. Obviously, the construction industry has continued to see rising costs and it is impossible to know the impact of tariffs on future costs. We were still over a year away from starting the renovation and had not put the project out to bid yet. However, we did recently open bids for the Rising Tide building project at the high school and the low bid was 80% higher than expected and the high bid was 150% higher! (Needless to say, we can’t move forward with that project.)

Unfortunately, the district is not going to be able to move forward with this wonderful project due to the higher-than-expected renovation costs. The finances simply no longer make sense. It is not realistic for us to fundraise an extra $1.3 million dollars ($2 million total) to make it happen. This is sad news for school district and community for many reasons. Not only were we thrilled to be able to help address a local housing crisis and recruitment challenge, but we looked forward to the community benefit of restoring a beloved building standing at the gateway to downtown Camden.

We have spent two years deeply engaged in trying to make this project happen. We spent countless hours talking to state and federal officials, from the Maine Historic Preservation Commission to the U..S Department of Agriculture to the Genesis Fund, trying to find sources of funding to help pay for the project. As a public school district, we were ineligible for nearly every avenue we pursued, and hit brick wall after brick wall. But we pressed on and believed we could make it happen with a $3 million price tag. At $4.3, it has become an impossibility.

Since the district has no future use for the building and no need to keep it, the district is doing what we are legally obligated to do, and that is to offer it back to the town of Camden at no cost. If the town decides not to take the property back (the town deeded it to the school district in 1968), the district intends to sell the building on the open market.

No matter what happens, the Montessori school will be able to continue its current lease which ends on June 30, 2026.