Presque Isle council considers uses for former middle school

PRESQUE ISLE – As the date moves closer for city officials to take ownership of Cunningham Middle School, city councilors are narrowing their options on what to do with the facility.

SAD 1 officials closed the 81-year-old school building in June and intend to transfer ownership to the city on Dec. 1.

With the transfer date nearing and no final plan in place for the building, the Presque Isle City Council on Monday night received a presentation by Dick Gardiner, director of the city’s recreation and parks department, about the condition of the school’s gymnasium, according to Jim Brown, acting city manager. Brown is serving in the capacity while City Manager Tom Stevens is on vacation.

Brown said Tuesday that the city is considering its options in reusing the building because, though the city voted this summer to sell it through a sealed bid process, no bids were submitted.

Along with selling the facility, the city’s options, as laid out by Stevens, are to:

. Reverse its decision to accept the Third Street property from SAD 1.

. Demolish the building to preserve the site for future development by a private entity or the city.

. Reuse it for municipal purposes, such as a city hall or recreation and parks facility.

Gardiner told councilors that he and the city manager had made several visits to the middle school as they reviewed the possibility of relocating the recreation department to the facility, which has a large gymnasium, Brown said.

“After several visits and assembling a list of benefits and disincentives, they determined that at this particular time, the facility did not lend itself to reuse by the recreation department,” Brown said.

“We were apprehensive about getting into a building that might need more done to it to fit our needs and not really having the funds available to accommodate our needs,” Gardiner said Tuesday.

Gardiner pointed out that the recreation department does not have funds set aside for such a project. Initial costs “just to get us in and make it accessible” – including creating office space and rooms for nongym activities – were estimated at $50,000.

Gardiner said, however, that he would be “open to things that would help make it [Cunningham] work for us.”

The council took Gardiner’s points under advisement.

In other news, the council approved a bid for a new tanker truck for the Presque Isle Fire Department. The department recently received a $209,000 grant from the Department of Homeland Security’s Fire Act Grant Program for the truck. The city awarded the $218,356 contract for the 3,500-gallon tanker truck to Metal Fab and K&T Environmental of Island Falls. The balance of the funding will come from the Fire Department’s reserve account. Because of the grant, Brown said that the city is paying about 5 percent of the vehicle’s total cost.

The next meeting of the Presque Isle City Council will be held at 6 p.m. Nov. 21 in council chambers.