WHATELY — The Select Board is seeking public comment as it prepares to solicit information from prospective developers for the now-vacant Whately Center School.
The town is seeking residents’ input on how development companies and other interested parties should work on the 218 Chestnut Plain Road site to determine feasible use of the lot while maintaining the historic character of the building — and the 17-foot-tall Quonquont Farm milk bottle that shares the lot.
Whately Town Administrator Brian Domina said public comment will help guide the town on how residents want the site to be used.
“We’re looking for public comment on the (request for information) draft itself,” Domina noted. “Hopefully we get ideas from people about what they want to do with the building.”
Domina said the building is in a great location and town officials are hoping future developments keep its historic nature intact.
“It’s a pretty unique building,” he said. “It kind of bookends the historic district.”
Having residents’ input on the request for information (RFI) draft is an optional step, Domina said, but it will help the town and the Select Board to finalize the RFI toward the end of the month.
“This kind of informs that process,” he said. “We hope to publish the final RFI end of August, early September.”
The town will “look favorably” on proposals that preserve the unique character of the building, respect the residential and historical aspects of the neighborhood and keep the site open to public engagement while providing a financial benefit to Whately, according to the draft RFI request.
The draft request follows the creation of the Center School Visioning Committee’s March 17, 2020 report detailing the development and maintenance challenges of the building and a survey asking residents how they would like to see the building used. Domina said the committee was helpful in determining what the town is seeking in terms of use.
“The visioning process had some uses,” he said. “We obviously want it to fit in with the neighborhood context.”
The building’s finished area consists of 4,048 square feet. All its mechanical systems, such as heat and wiring, need to be replaced, according to the Center School Visioning Committee’s report. Other issues include “inadequate” insulation and that the building is not accessible to people with disabilities. While both the water and heat are turned off, the town spends $4,400 per year to maintain the building’s insurance and electricity.
Almost half of survey respondents — a total of 149 Whately residents — picked a cafe or restaurant as their top choice for the building. One-third of residents preferred arts or craft spaces or a community center for town use. The survey concluded residents think more community spaces or restaurants are needed in downtown Whately.
Private residences were another option, but the committee’s report estimated a private developer would have to spend approximately $1.4 million on rehabilitating the property for rental use. If the town pursues creating a park on the lot, demolition would cost about $60,000 between the destruction and filling in of the cellar hole. Abatement of any hazardous materials would cost an additional $40,000.
Of the options available to the town — demolition, selling to a private owner, owning and using the building while also renting to a private entity, and owning and entering into a long-term lease with a private entity — the Center School Visioning Committee recommends the last of the options.
Domina said no decisions have been made by the town and the Select Board is waiting for more details from interested parties before moving forward.
“There has been some interest,” Domina said. “We’ll take it from there.”
The town’s draft RFI report can be found at bit.ly/2UuzwNw. Whately is accepting public comment at townadmin@whately.org until the end of the day Aug. 23. It will be finalized at the Select Board’s next meeting Aug 25.