MALONE — Voters in the Malone Central School District rejected a $38.4 million construction and renovation project Thursday by a vote of 908 to 843, with 12 void votes.

District Superintendent Wayne Walbridge reported that Phase 1 of the project went down by 65 votes.

"It was a heavy turnout, just as I expected; and I expected it to be a very close vote, and it was."

The plan called for $19.5 million in renovations at Malone Middle School and the purchase of 110 acres of land at the corner of Houndsville Road and U.S. Route 11 for $525,000.

A new $12.5 million transportation facility, with 39 bays to hold the district's fleet of buses, would have been built on the property during Phase 1 of construction.

The old bus garage would have been torn down, and two regulation-size sports fields would have been built in its place at Franklin Academy High School.

The bulk of the renovations and improvements were slated for the Middle School, which would have gotten a larger cafeteria, upgrades to the gymnasium and auditorium, a new library with upgraded computer equipment and new laboratory space.

The rest of the money was for energy-savings improvements to Davis Elementary School, a new roof at Flanders Elementary School and replacement of a boiler and other energy-efficiency upgrades at St. Joseph's Elementary School.

The proposition also included permission for the School Board to create a capital-reserve fund, with a $5 million cap, to pay for building and renovation projects.

The first $1 million would have been deposited from unspent funds from the 2008-09 budget; then the School Board would have decided each year for the next nine years how much money out of the annual budget to add to the reserve account.

In 2000, 768 people turned out to vote for the district's last capital-improvement project, which funded improvements at Franklin Academy High School.

E-mail Denise A. Raymo at: draymo@pressrepublican.com