[MassHistPres] Lease or sale of town owned building

[Diane Gilbert]

Hello Sally,

We have an uncannily similar situation in Dartmouth––a schoolhouse built in
1871 which is a contributing structure in the Russell's Mills Village
Historic District. In our case, it was converted to a library branch which
was then given to the Town (BOS) when the Library Trustees couldn't sustain
it any longer. Many people weighed in on how to repurpose this building
over a few years. Brainstorming sessions galore!

On a very small lot, the schoolhouse was in fairly good shape yet needed
some work, new septic, etc.. The project received CPA historic preservation
funds. The Dartmouth Heritage Preservation Trust, Inc. (501c3) worked with
the Town to hold the preservation restriction for the exterior. More
importantly, another non-profit stepped up, the Dartmouth Historical & Arts
Society (DHAS), and has been leasing the building for a number of years.
This arrangement seems to be working very well. The building's first level
is used for programming and a variety of events and lectures throughout the
year, inside and outside. The second floor is used as a late 19th century
schoolhouse with living history interpretations of schools of the period.
Through a partnership between the school district and DHAS, led by the VP
of education programs, third graders are given the opportunity to
experience what school and community life was like in the 19th century.
With Covid19 among us, that has stopped. Programs and lectures are done on
Zoom. Sound familiar?  Visit www.dartmouthhas.org. You will see photos of
the schoolhouse and have the opportunity to review the great work they do
in bringing local history to a broad community.  Link:
http://www.dartmouthhas.org/index.html

It appears that your schoolhouse requires much more work as I surmise it's
been abandoned or neglected (?) for 25 years. My question to you is why do
some in your group oppose a lease arrangement? I suppose you could do a
lease with an option to buy.  I can also put you in touch with the
president of DHAS or the VP of education.

Wish you all the best of luck!  Your endeavor sounds promising.  It's been
done before too.

Best wishes,
Diane Gilbert
President, Dartmouth Heritage Preservation Trust, Inc.
(508) 965-7265
www.dhpt.org

On Tue, Nov 17, 2020 at 1:17 PM sally milne <urbanosally at gmail.com> wrote:

> Greetings,
>       I am writing to you from West Harwich and have sought your input
> many times always receiving great information .
>     We have a historic schoolhouse that the town owns and has allowed to
> fall into disrepair for 25 years. Nothing put forward came to fruition and
> yet the townspeople want it restored and put to use.  The BOS are tossing
> around a lease or a sale and our group has formed a 501c3 and hope to
> secure the building.
>          If you have had success or information regarding this would you
> share. Part of our group wants to walk away if it’s a lease.
>
> Best to everyone
> Sally Urbano
> Individually
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> MassHistPres mailing list
> MassHistPres at cs.umb.edu
> http://mailman.cs.umb.edu/listinfo/masshistpres
>


-- 
Best wishes,
Diane

Diane M. Gilbert
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