School building use examined > Stonington town offices, pool, museum among suggestions

STONINGTON – When students and teachers vacate the Stonington Elementary School sometime next year, the town will take over ownership of the buildings and adjacent land.

Town officials already have begun thinking about how the they might use the property.

A group is actively working on a development plan for the Quonset hut building that now houses the gymnasium and some classrooms, and a committee that had begun discussing the main classroom building will be reactivated to develop possible uses for that structure, according to Town Manager Richard Avery.

The active group hopes to create a community center in the Quonset hut-style building and will work to develop a proposal for that purpose, Avery said.

Some people have suggested that the property also would be a good location for a community pool.

“It’s a good location in a nice setting,” Avery said. “It offers easy access and parking.”

The main building offers 16,000 square feet of space on two floors, with additional usable space possibly available in the third-floor attic. There have been several suggestions for the building, according to Avery.

“Some ideas have included moving the town offices and perhaps other public offices to the first floor of the building, and then renting the second floor for commercial use,” he said.

“Others have suggested using the second floor for a museum or even a day care center.”

Avery said the building also could have strictly commercial uses and might make a good site for several small businesses wanting to share some services.

The buildings are in good condition, Avery said, although the main building sits above street level and would need some work to make it accessible to handicapped people.

“Handicapped access is the big issue, but it’s not insurmountable,” he said.

The town may have to upgrade some of the building systems as well, he said.

The buildings sit on a 2-acre lot, and there is an additional acre of woods adjacent to the site.

That wood lot also offers an opportunity to create a walking path that would link the Main Street to the school site, Avery said.

Pink Street already runs partway up the hill, beginning on Main Street near the Legion Hall and Boyce’s Motel, but it has been blocked and unused for a number of years.

“This offers an opportunity to create a nice walk connecting the property with the waterfront area,” Avery said.

Earlier this month, the Deer Isle-Stonington School Committee agreed to send a letter to the town indicating its intention to turn the property over to the town.

That will happen after the Stonington Elementary and Deer Isle Elementary schools move into the new Deer Isle-Stonington Elementary School, now under construction in Deer Isle.

That move should take place in February.

The town, however, is not in any big rush to decide what will happen in the building.

Avery said it will be secured once the students and teachers have moved out while the committees discuss whether to use or sell the two structures.

He said the two building study committees could spend up to a year developing plans for the two structures.