Groton — The state has approved the final plans for the new consolidated middle school, allowing the town to go out to bid for the project.

Superintendent Michael Graner said his reaction to the approval was "unbridled joy."

"We have been working towards this for five years now," he said. "It started with the idea we wanted to try to develop a middle school that would meet the needs of children on both sides of town and that ultimately gave rise to the vision of Groton 2020 to build a consolidated middle school."

The town now has permission to bid out the estimated $86.09 million middle school project, which will receive 47.5 percent reimbursement from the state, Graner said.

In 2016, residents had approved at referendum $184.5 million for the Groton 2020 plan for the consolidated middle school and two elementary schools.

Graner said the town cleared a long series of obstacles over the course of planning for the Groton 2020 plan, and he's delighted so many people supported the projects.

During the planning process, officials petitioned the state for one of the construction projects — the elementary school at the Carl C. Cutler Middle School site — to be designated as a diversity school to address racial imbalance. That project is slated to get 80 percent reimbursement from the state, he said.

The town also worked for two years with the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to remove conservation restrictions from the former Merritt Farm property and instead place them on other properties, so the town could build the middle school on the Merritt Farm property adjacent to Fitch High School.

Then in December, the Groton 2020 plan had to head back to referendum for a change in which the town could build two new elementary schools, rather than convert the middle schools into elementary schools. With the approval, architects have resumed their work and are continuing to design the two elementary schools, Graner said.

Last week, school officials submitted the final plans and cost estimates for the middle school to the state Department of Administrative Services' Office of School Construction Grants and Review, Graner said.

"It was really a meticulous, thorough review," Graner said. "They were asking everything, from engineering aspects to permission to use the Merritt property."

Graner said with the state's commitment to fund the project and authorization to go out to bid, the town plans to advertise the project this week. The Permanent School Building Committee then will hire a construction firm, and construction on the approximately 155,000-square-foot building is expected to begin by late March, with an anticipated completion date of June 2020.

According to a presentation of the design plans last month, the middle school will feature a makerspace and engineering labs for science, technology, engineering and math; art, graphic arts and audio/video production space; a black-box theater; and a movement studio, fitness room and gymnasium. Outside, there are plans for a full-size athletic field, smaller field and softball field.

k.drelich@theday.com