Lincolnville panel would raze school

LINCOLNVILLE – From the perspective of the town’s school committee, it’s a no-brainer: The now-closed Lincolnville Central School should be demolished to make way for a new building.

The school committee voted unanimously last week to recommend that course, Chairman Edmund Hartt said this week.

Residents will be asked to vote on the issue at a special town meeting at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 18, at the Lobster Pound restaurant, one of the few heated buildings in town that can handle a crowd, now that the school is closed.

Hartt explained that building a new school on the site of the old building would save about $350,000 in site development costs and also would avoid permitting problems.

For others, the question is not so simple. A committee charged with making a recommendation on the fate of the old school told selectmen it could not reach a clear consensus, though most members seemed to lean toward demolishing the school.

The school has been closed since April when it was discovered that its air was contaminated with fungi such as stachybotrys, penicillium and aspergillus, along with asbestos fibers. The town was in the midst of preparing to expand the building when it learned of the problems.

Hartt said $90,000 was spent trying to rid the building of the contaminants, but serious problems with drainage and moisture barriers were discovered, convincing school officials to close it to student use.

A group in town believes the building – part of which dates to the 1940s – might be retained for some other use, such as municipal offices or a library. The group has met and submitted a petition to selectmen asking for a town meeting to consider authorizing spending money to investigate uses of the old school.

Meanwhile, the town’s K-grade eight pupils, who finished last year in temporary classrooms, are attending a school built by credit card lender MBNA New England at its Northport retreat and conference center. MBNA agreed to let the town use the building for three years.

MBNA also has pledged $2.5 million toward the cost of a new school.

Hartt said school committee members have concluded the best place to build the new school is at the site of the old one. A second site on town property farther off the road was considered, but poses problems.

“The site down in the woods is constricted by wetlands and ledge,” Hartt said. If the new school were built there, it would be difficult to expand it later.

In addition, the new school at that site probably would not be able to use the old school’s septic system, and would be farther from existing athletic fields.

Furthermore, Hartt said, the clock is ticking on use of the temporary school provided by MBNA.

“We feel this is an emergency,” he said of the school committee’s sentiments about the urgency in planning for a new school.

School committee members are worried that until the issue of the old school is resolved, planning for the new one cannot begin in earnest, they noted in a statement released this week.

“We can’t continue to rely on the generosity of our neighbors,” Hartt said. “It’s our responsibility as the town of Lincolnville” to find a place for students.

Hartt acknowledged that renewing the three-year lease with MBNA – which began in September – was possible, but could not be relied on.

Residents will face three questions at the special town meeting Monday, which relate to one another.

The first question asks whether the old school should be formally and finally closed. The second asks, if it is closed, whether the school should be demolished. The third question asks, if the town decides not to demolish the school, whether money should be spent investigating other uses for the building.

The votes will not be the final word on the issue, though, because subsequent votes are required to approve of spending money for demolition, choosing the site and plans for the new school, and spending to build the new school.

“It is a multifaceted problem,” Hartt said.