Presque Isle councilors vote to demolish 81-year-old school

PRESQUE ISLE – Cunningham Middle School is going to be torn down.

After two years of searching for other options, city councilors voted 5 to 2 on Monday to begin the process of demolishing the 81-year-old building.

The Presque Isle City Council gave City Manager Tom Stevens “marching orders” to hire an engineering firm to draw up bid specifications for the demolition and bring them back to the council. If approved, city officials will put the demolition out to bid, hire a contractor and demolish the building, Stevens said Monday night.

The 55,680-square-foot building was vacated last summer by the local school district and turned over last fall to the city. In the past two years, the city council has sought out options for reusing the Third Street property, including selling it or using it for municipal purposes. Attempts to sell the building failed and several city officials have said that reusing the building as a city hall or recreation center just won’t work.

Most recently, members of the Recreation and Parks Advisory Board toured the school as they consider options for a new recreation facility.

Board member Kevin Sipe told councilors Monday night the building was in a better location than the recreation department’s current facility – the William V. Haskell Community Center on Main Street – and that it offered better parking, a bigger gym and shower and locker room facilities. He added, however, that the building had several disadvantages, including: ADA compliance issues, flow problems, water damage, heating concerns, and significant renovations.

“Our feeling is that this is not the best match for what we want to provide,” Sipe said. “It’s better to look at a new building rather than retrofit” this one.

That left councilors with the demolition option. Councilor Walt Elish made a motion to begin the process to demolish the building.

According to figures city officials previously gathered, it would cost the city about $225,000 to demolish the building and about $35,000 to pay for asbestos cleanup. Stevens estimated that it would cost about 10 to 20 percent more than that now.

He said the city’s preliminary funding options are to seek money from the Presque Isle Development Fund, from the city’s surplus, establish a “straight appropriation” in the 2007 budget, or apply for a loan.

“It’s nice to see we’re getting ready to spend another half-million dollars,” Councilor Don Gardiner said. Gardiner was opposed to tearing down the building.

Councilor Ron McPherson said he was struggling with the issue. The building has a rich history, he said, but according to research he has seen recently, it is better to “take [old] buildings down and build new.” He said no matter what happened with the property, the Cunningham name always should be associated with it.

Councilor Jennifer Trombley said she had been reluctant to tear down the building – she said she would have been willing to give the building away if someone wanted it – but that “no one’s coming forward.”

In a roll call vote, Councilors Ed Nickerson, Trombley, Elish, Calvin Hall and Richard Scott approved the measure while Councilors McPherson and Gardiner opposed it.

The council indicated it would like the project completed by the end of 2006.