In a collaborative effort that began eight years ago between the Brewer Building Committee - a committee made up of city residents, parents of school-aged children, school committee members, city officials and members of the school Board of Trustees – the State Board of Education, the Department of Education, various local and state regulatory departments, and the project’s architects, WBRC Architects and Engineers in Bangor, the project was approved by City residents in two separate straw polls taken in May and October. The votes have allowed the project to proceed to the final referendum process.

The proposed PreK-8 school will replace the aging, deteriorating elementary and middle school buildings in the Brewer school system. The school buildings that will be phased out upon completion of the project include Pendleton Street, Washington Street, Capri Street, State Street and the Brewer Middle School located on Somerset Street.

In the first vote in May, Brewer residents expressed their approval of the selection of the Pendleton Street School location, the site for the proposed project. The school was closed last year due to its deteriorating condition and the presence of mold, and those students have since been relocated temporarily to Washington Street School.

In the second vote held in October, 168 voters gave unanimous approval for the concept, and the Brewer School Department presented the project to the Maine State Board of Education on October 10, 2007.

The Board of Education also approved the project unanimously, clearing the way for the Dec. 4 referendum.