ROCKPORT, Maine — The local Select Board wants to make it clear that this is not the time to try to sell the former Rockport Elementary School property.
Town Manager Richard Bates said the board members will discuss the property at their Monday night meeting strictly to settle the issue of whether a new library could be built on the site.
“There are some who believe we are hanging on to [the school property] so that we can ultimately build the library there. We want to put that to bed and explain why it is not on the market at the present time,” Bates said.
Board Chairman William Chapman agreed, saying the market is not strong enough to sell the property at this time. He said the town wants to make sure whoever does ultimately buy the property will put it to the best use for the community. He said the town is absolutely not holding onto the land so that the library can be built there at some point.
The town acquired the nearly 8 acres in the fall of 2009 when School Administrative District 28 closed Rockport Elementary. The district built a new elementary school on Route 90. The former Rockport Elementary property fronts Route 1 at the heavily-traveled intersection with West Street.
An advisory committee in March 2009, which was formed in anticipation of the town acquiring the land, concluded that the best use of the property would be for commercial purposes.
The town negotiated with Maine Media Workshop and College in 2011 but the college announced in October 2011 that the property would not meet its needs.
Later, the Rockport Library Committee proposed a new library at the former elementary school site, saying that the current location in the village did not provide enough space for programs or parking. The library’s steering committee held a series of meetings throughout the town during 2014 to garner input on what residents want for a new library. The committee issued a report in June, recommending a new library be built at the former elementary school location.
But in November 2014, residents rejected a ballot question — 1,065 to 786 — that asked whether the library should be located at that site.
Since then the town has hired the engineering firm of CES Inc. to study the condition of the existing library and the Library Committee contracted with a consultant Steve Podgajny, director of the Portland Public Library, to perform an assessment on what the community wants for its library.
Chapman said the reports should be completed next month.
The existing library covers 3,324 square feet. The Library Committee recommended last year that a new library have at least 10,000 square feet of space and estimated that 14,000 square feet would be needed in the foreseeable future.