Town Meeting: Hartland voters to decide school sale
Published: 02-04-2025 6:01 PM |
HARTLAND — Town Meeting voters next month will decide whether to allow the town to put the long shuttered North Hartland School building up for sale.
The school building, at 24 Mill St., in North Hartland, sits on a 1.5-acre plot of town-owned and maintained land called Currier Park. An embankment separates the land around the schoolhouse from an adjacent outdoor recreational area that includes a basketball court, tennis court, baseball field and playground equipment.
Town officials hope to sell the building and the adjoining land, while maintaining ownership of the Currier Park recreational facilities.
“The Board felt that selling the building and sufficient land for a building lot was the best option. This idea will have the Town retain the bulk of the park including the swing sets and tennis courts,” Selectboard Chairman Phil Hobbie said by email.
The town has not determined a selling price for the building and land.
The 2024 Hartland Grand List places the value of the building and the Currier Park land at $373,100.
The town first took ownership of the building, along with the Hartland Three Corners and Hartland Four Corners school buildings, from the Hartland School District in 1972.
The property transfers took place after the completion of the current elementary school at its Martinsville Road location in 1971.
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The existing North Hartland School building is a 1950s-era addition to the original school building.
Prompted by incidents of vandalism, including broken windows, at the vacant building, the Hartland Selectboard voted in November 2023 to create a North Hartland School committee to study the structure and make recommendations for its use, Hobbie said.
The 10-member committee included five residents, two Selectboard members, the town manager and the recreation director. The committee presented its findings to the Selectboard in November.
The average cost to the town to maintain the school building over the past four years has been about $7,000 per year, according to data provided in the report.
In addition, a building inspection conducted by White River Valley Home Inspection last year found several critical issues, including outdated electrical wiring, the presence of lead paint and asbestos, along with a furnace and water heater in poor condition.
The building is not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA.
In its report, the committee noted that resolving the most critical issues would cost an estimated $200,000.
The town does not plan to do any work on the building prior to selling it, should voters approve the sale, Hobbie said. Given the condition of the building, the board expects that any potential buyer would likely raze it.
“We have no preferred use, but recognize the need for additional housing in town and would hope the sale would lead to that preference,” Hobbie said.
“Given the state of the existing building it will likely be removed, but again it is premature to know that,” he added.
An informational meeting on town meeting articles is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 10 at 5:30 p.m. in Damon Hall.
Hartland’s Town Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 4 at 9 a.m. in Damon Hall.
Christina Dolan can be reached at cdolan@vnews.com or 603-727-3208.