Fate of Prescott School, Center Fire Station & Squannacook Hall In Hands of Town Meeting Voters [with video]
The future of three major town-owned buildings will be placed in the hands of voters to determine their fate at Spring Town Meeting April 28 as Selectmen are looking to sell or lease Prescott School, Groton Center Fire Station and Squannacook Hall, respectively.
Prescott School, currently occupied by the administrative offices of Groton Dunstable Regional School District, will soon be vacated. Town Manager Mark Haddad advised the Board that there is one individual that is "interested in converting the building to a business."
Haddad said this potential buyer would look to the town for a TIF - Tax Incentive Financing - on the real estate tax which is estimated at $36,000 based on its current assessment. This is essentially an exemption granted to an approved project by the town and is generally based on the value of the new construction or rehabilitation of the building and can run for a period of five to twenty years. A TIF is used only for commercial and not residential rehabilitation.
According to Haddad, part of the proposal from the potential buyer includes installation of an elevator in Prescott and $1.7M in restoration work to the historic school. In addition, Haddad said that the buyer will make the back portion of the property available as a municipal parking lot with space for 60 cars.
Haddad announced that five proposals were received from the Request for Proposal (RFP) on the Groton Center Fire Station on Station Avenue. He said the bids ranged from a low of $5,000 to a high of $100,000. Plans submitted varied from a second floor rental unit and first floor bike shop, to all business for a video shop and a workshop to a first floor restaurant with a second floor apartment.
For both Prescott School and the Center Fire Station, Haddad said he would put together two separate committees to assess proposals and make recommendations. Finance Committee member Bob Hargraves encouraged Haddad to involve residents on these committees, in addition to public officials and town hall employees.
The sale of Squannacook Hall came before voters at an earlier town meeting but members of the abutting Christian Union Church raised numerous issues including a claim of ownership of the driveway and some of the land. Once surveyed, it was clear that the town owned the land and the driveway, so officials, along with the potential buyer, local builder Halsey Platt, worked with the church to come to a resolution of the issues. Platt is proposing to renovate the former West Groton firehouse into to four units of rental housing.
Several articles relating to the Squannacook Hall sale, including re-zoning , septic system repair and the Concept Plan will be back before voters for their action.
