Old Town keeps options open for Hunt school site

OLD TOWN – After kicking around a couple of options at Tuesday’s workshop, nothing was set in stone, and city officials and future owners of the former Helen Hunt School decided to keep their options open.

“Our intent is to move forward in what we’re doing,” Rev. Robert Carlson, Penobscot Community Health Center president, said Tuesday.

The council accepted a bid last month from PCHC to purchase the former Helen Hunt School for $100,000, but the sale likely won’t be made final until at least February. PCHC has to complete its plans for the building before it can submit its application for funding to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The plan is to move Old Town Family Practice into the first floor and part of the basement of the Brunswick Street building, and use the second floor and attic for other purposes that are yet to be determined.

“I want to keep all options open … whatever is good for the community,” Carlson said. “We see ourselves as participants in the community.”

One of the options that has been discussed is using some space for affordable housing through the Old Town Housing Authority.

After Tuesday’s meeting, it appears that idea has been set aside, but may be revisited.

The housing authority board recently voted and sent a letter to PCHC saying they were no longer considering using the space.

Deadlines for funding and limited staff to do the legwork, combined with the desire to have housing on the first floor rather than the second, led to the decision.

The other option of moving city hall to the second floor has been extensively discussed before. The council decided in 2004 it wasn’t feasible. Although not thrown out altogether, the council isn’t ready to take action on the idea.

The former City Hall is being renovated as the new public safety building, and city office space now is being leased in the Bangor Savings Bank building.

“I just think it’s an option we need to at least consider,” Councilor Carol May said.

The city previously spent $250,000 on a feasibility study to see if using the former school was an option, but the $2.4 million low bid they received in 2004 to do the necessary renovations proved too costly.

The city’s funds now are tied up in renovations to the former Herbert Sargent School, now the Herbert Sargent Community Center, and the public safety building.

“The [Helen Hunt] project’s one of the most exciting things that’s happened to the community in a long time,” Councilor Alan Stormann said.

He noted several times during the meeting that to move city offices into the building would require obtaining bond funding, and was concerned about the impact that might have on taxpayers.

Other councilors, including Linda McLeod, agreed.

The council left the option open and said they may consider it again in the future, but for now it’s out.