MEXICO — For the second time in three years, voters will be asked June 9 if they still favor the town owning the former Meroby Elementary School at 21 Cross St.

At the June 2024 annual town meeting, Mexico voters accepted Regional School Unit 10’s offer for the town to buy Meroby after it closed. At that time, Mexico had planned for its fire department to be retrofitted into the building and surrounding space.

However, the town received a $4.5 million U.S. Department of Agriculture grant in 2025 to construct a fire station, but with the stipulation it would have to be built new. That site will be at old Waleik’s Field on Roxbury Road.

Now that the former school is closed and students moved to Mountain Valley Community School in January, Mexico is going back to the voters to see if they still want the town to own the building. If not, Regional School Unit 10 has voted it will take it back.

Town Manager Jack Gaudet said the town had an engineer look at the building and he said it would have cost more to renovate the nearly 50-year-old schoolhouse as a fire station than it would to build a new one.

The town will present the question to voters at the annual town meeting June 9. The exact wording is still being developed.

At the RSU 10 meeting April 27 in Buckfield, the board of directors unanimously approved retaining the property if the town does not accept the deed by July 1.

Board member Allison Long, of Buckfield, asked what the school board’s options are at that point: “What can we do with it?”

Superintendent Deb Alden said the district could either sell it, put it out to bid, use it, or lease it, among other options.

“If the town of Mexico does not accept the deed, we do have some purpose for it. As a district, we are currently renting some space for storage. We’d shut down the building and use it initially for cold storage, which is valuable for us right now,” Assistant Superintendent Matt Gilbert said. “Then at a future point, we’d transition into usage of the building. But the first step is just securing the building again. And then what can we do? Can we lease space? Can we work with an outside agency to come in with some day treatment? We’re looking at what we need for space for what services we currently have or that we’re missing from the district.”

Gilbert said there is some use and value for the district in retaining the building.

“But there is a procedure if we get down the line a couple of years we say we want to sell the building or lease the building,” he said.

Alden said the district worked with its attorney to prepare the deed, whether the town keeps it or not.

“They voted to give it to us. We voted to accept it. They were saying the deed was ready, but the building was not ready,” Gaudet said. “Just because they moved out of it, the building was not ready. It still had a lot of school stuff (inside).”

At the time of the first vote, he said “the building was not ready to be accepted.”

Gaudet said the condition of the building was a factor in deciding to not use it for the fire department.

In February, Mexico Firefighter Relief members proposed cleaning the building in exchange for selling material left behind to raise money for furniture for the new fire station. But before that could happen, Gaudet said he met with Devon Roberts, RSU 10 building, grounds and transportation director, to ask him to take anything that was school related out of the building.

“There was stuff on the walls, a lot of personal teacher stuff, teachers lounge still had stuff, still food on the shelves,” Gaudet said.

The custodial staff, he said, was supposed to clean it out over February school break, but that never happened.

“About a month or so ago, Matt Gilbert and I walked through it — still all kinds of school-related stuff, and trash,” Gaudet said. “My thought is (RSU 10) was trying to paint a picture that we would not take the deed, but we wanted it to be in a condition that it would be accepted, and it was not.”

He said he hasn’t been in the building since, but said he’s heard it’s been cleaned out.

Supporting Sponsor for Franklin Journal, Livermore Falls Advertiser, Rangeley Highlander and Rumford Falls Times.
Keeping communities informed by supporting local news. franklinsavings.bank