BETHEL — Selectmen recently toured the old Ethel Bisbee School building with Christi Mitchell of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission as they try to come up with a recommendation to voters on whether to save the building or tear it down.
Her preliminary assessment: fix it and use it.
“It has an incredible amount of historic integrity. Is it worthwhile? I would say absolutely,” Mitchell said last Thursday.
The school, built in 1925 and expanded in 1947, was given to the town by School Administrative District 44 last year.
Selectmen have been wrestling since then with what to do with the two-acre property and building. Proposed ideas include restoring and renovating it for use as a community center and tearing it down and using the land for recreation facilities.
Mitchell, a historic preservationist, told town officials this fall that the building would be eligible for consideration for the National Register of Historic Places. As they toured it last week, she said EBS appeared to be “in fairly good shape.” While she acknowledged she is not an engineer, Mitchell said the building seems to be structurally sound. She recommended the town have an engineer evaluate it.
As for potential uses for the building, Mitchell said the MHPC works with many developers who convert old schools into senior housing with apartments and community rooms.
“It’s a solid building, and if you take it down, you’re wasting what you have,” she said. Replacing it would cost more than fixing it, she said.
With new paint, carpeting and other improvements, “This is a functional building,” said Mitchell.
She told selectmen that for buildings on the National Register, private developers are able to receive 20 percent of their investments in federal tax credits and between 25 and 30 percent in state tax credits.
“A developer can get 50 percent of his costs back in tax credits,” she said.
Selectman Don Bennett said he has reservations about Bethel keeping the building, because it might literally stand in the way of other town uses for the land.
Town Manager Christine Landes said after the meeting that the next step in the decision-making process might be to propose money in next year’s municipal budget for an engineering evaluation.
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