CAMDEN, Maine — The Camden Select Board said it is too premature to discuss whether it would be interested in acquiring the historic Mary E. Taylor School if the school district decides not to renovate it under a developing plan for a new middle school.
School Administrative District 28 Superintendent Maria Libby sent a letter to the Camden Select Board, dated Jan. 27, asking whether there was interest by the town.
The Select Board discussed the letter at its Tuesday night meeting.
“We recognize that a likely scenario is that we determine it is too expensive to renovate that building and bring it up to code,” Libby stated in the letter, saying the district is considering various options for a middle school. “We understand there may be community interest in preserving the building for the historic value, however.”
The superintendent said it was important to the district’s planning process to know whether the town would want to take ownership of the building.
The Mary E. Taylor portion of the middle school was built in 1925.
The school district is eyeing November 2017 for a second referendum on whether to build a new middle school.
Residents in Camden and Rockport rejected a $28 million bond referendum in February 2015 to construct a new middle school and renovate the middle school at Mary E. Taylor for use as administrative offices and adult and alternative education. The vote was 946 to 668 in opposition to borrowing the money for the project.
Opposition came from people who questioned the costs and those who were irritated about the timing of the vote in the middle of winter.
Board member Leonard Lookner said Tuesday morning it would be “totally irresponsible” to the taxpayers of this community for the town to take ownership of the building.
“If we wanted to spend that kind of money, there are many things in town that would be of a much greater priority,” Lookner said.
At the Tuesday night board meeting, Select Board members said they wanted the school district to look at all options including renovating the Mary E. Taylor building before it decides how to proceed.