LOWVILLE — While the Lewis County Courthouse project is winding down, work on the $32.8 million capital project next door at Lowville Academy and Central School is becoming more noticeable.

"It's going to be a transformational project that will create an even stronger learning environment," district Superintendent Kenneth J. McAuliffe said. "I think the community is going to be very pleased with the building when it gets done."

The "Bicentennial Project," planned in conjunction with the district's 200th anniversary this year, was approved by voters last November.

The project's first phase received state Education Department approval early this fall, and the district hopes Phase II will be approved by February or March, Mr. McAuliffe said.

The district recently purchased two properties off Bostwick Street and demolished houses on them in anticipation of extensive field work behind the kindergarten-through-12th grade building off North State Street.

"Those lots will become the launching pad for the site," Mr. McAuliffe said.

Workers this spring are to begin installation of artificial turf on the athletic field behind the school. The new surface is to provide at least an extra month of usage each year and allow teams to practice on the field without ruining it for games.

The field work — along with the rest of the project — is to be completed by fall 2010, Mr. McAuliffe said.

"The field will probably be out of commission for three seasons," he said.

A wall will be constructed around the field, bleachers will be installed on the hill behind the school and a parking lot will be developed on one of the Bostwick Street properties directly across from Dewitt Street.

To improve safety, the project will create a bus loop off Trinity Avenue, with the tennis courts relocated to the north side of the property to provide room for it. The North State Street entrance then will be used only for car and pedestrian traffic.

Mr. McAuliffe said he is unsure whether the new bus loop will be developed next year or in 2010.

However, he said he hopes Phase II — construction and renovation of the school building — will begin in spring in conjunction with the field work.

"We're planning to empty the high school this summer," Mr. McAuliffe said.

The project's second phase includes installation of an elevator in the high school and a two-story, eight-room addition off the middle school wing. That addition will free up two rooms in the elementary wing for the prekindergarten program, provide a classroom for reading staff, increase special-education space and reduce elementary class sizes.

The "old gym" in the basement is to be converted into a mezzanine-style art room, accessible by stairway or elevator, and the high school cafeteria will be nearly doubled in size.

Along with the house demolition work, contractors have replaced the roof over the high school gymnasium and north wing and installed computerized controls on the school's three boilers, Mr. McAuliffe said. A contract has been awarded for replacement of windows in the high school section, with that $600,000 component expected to begin as soon as mid-December.

"All the bids have come in under what we expected, so far," Mr. McAuliffe said.

While lighting for the turf field was removed from the project to keep down costs, it could be included as an alternate if the remainder comes in under budget, he said.

District officials — by covering the local share with their $3 million capital reserve and $1.1 million in state Expanding Our Children's Education and Learning funding — expect the project to have no effect on school taxes. The rest of the project's costs, 95.3 percent, is being covered by state building aid.

While Mr. McAuliffe is concerned about proposed cuts in state education funding, he said he expects EXCEL aid to remain intact. "We've heard nothing to the contrary," he said.

Mr. McAuliffe did recall that, in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the state required districts in the midst of capital projects — like Lowville — to conduct an "advanced refund," essentially adding years to project bonding to reduce annual state building aid expenses. That effectively increased project costs by adding extra, unplanned interest expenses.

The district thus far has been able to save on interest costs by using capital reserve funds, rather than short-term borrowing, to pay for design and early construction work, Mr. McAuliffe said.

The capital project — which also includes $3.1 million for technology upgrades — should put Lowville Academy, despite its rural locale, in "a comparable position to some of the best schools in the state," the superintendent said.

However, he said, he is pleased particularly that it will help preserve the historic school building and its ornate craftsmanship for many more years.

"Sense of history is part of the project," Mr. McAuliffe said.