LIVERMORE FALLS — The Planning Board will review a site plan application Wednesday for renovating the former Livermore Falls Middle School at 1 Highland Ave. into 30 apartments.
Newman Homes of Augusta plans to renovate the former Livermore Falls Middle School in Livermore Falls into 30 apartments. A site plan review application will be discussed by the Livermore Falls Planning Board at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Town Office. Donna M. Perry/Sun Journal file photo
Interim Code Enforcement Officer Roland Castonguay of Jay said the review will be held at 6:30 p.m. at the Town Office. A public hearing on the project is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Jan. 31 at the Town Office.
Castonguay, who was appointed in December after Brandon Hobbs resigned, is the town manager’s husband and therefore is being supervised by the police chief. No one applied for the position prior to his appointment.
The middle school closed in 2012 after Regional School Unit 36 in Livermore and Livermore Falls and the Jay School Department formed Regional School Unit 73 in 2011. The students in grades six through eight moved to the Spruce Mountain Middle School in Jay.
Brandon Roberge of Newman Homes in Augusta proposes to convert the vacant building into 30 apartments, according to plans outlined in the project summary. The floor area to be developed is 36,608 square feet. The property has public sewer and water.
Newman Homes has done several projects in the central Maine area and has a purchase and sale agreement to buy the middle school from DANAC Management Co.
Dana Cummings of Livermore Falls and California bought the property after the school closed.
“We are proposing a large renovation and restoration project,” Roberge wrote in the summary.
The plans are in the preliminary stages and are subject to change. They include 10 one-bedroom apartments, 15 two-bedroom apartments, and five three-bedroom apartments.
The property has a working elevator the company plans to offer for between eight and 10 American With Disabilities Act accessible apartments. The apartments will be “fully and professionally renovated, yet very affordable,” he wrote.
The plan is to have stainless steel appliances, quartz countertops, in-unit laundry and restored interior historic trim. The renovations will be largely interior.
Newman Homes plans to update the exterior with new, large windows and doors, new pavement in the parking area and fresh paint on the historic trim to restore the building’s original charm, according the project summary.
In the common areas, the company intends to include an exercise room, computer room and a game room for tenants.
“We also intend to restore the gymnasium and would love to make it available to the community for use,” Roberge wrote.
According to the plan, the units would be available to low-income up to 60% of the area median income.
“We believe this is often an underserved portion of the population and intend to make quality housing available to them,” he wrote.
The property is 1.32 acres, Roland Castonguay said. About half of the lot is to be covered by structures and parking.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.