As Waldoboro prepares to request bids for the demolition of the old AD Gray School, town officials are still hopeful that a use for the building – and thus a new owner – will be found.
Built in 1935, the AD Gray School served as a high school and then a middle school until the new Medomak Valley Middle School was built about five years ago. The town took on ownership of the building with the understanding that if no use for it was found in two years, it would be demolished, town officials said.
On Jan. 30, Waldoboro Planning and Development Director Bill Najpauer walked the building to discuss its potential and limitations. The problem, Najpauer said, boils down to the slow economy.
In a better housing market, AD Gray has a lot of assets and relatively few shortcomings from a development perspective, Najpauer said. With the town’s current offer to sell the building for $1, it should be an attractive property.
“There’s a lot of potential,” he said, as he admired the wainscoting, wood floors and eight-foot wood-framed windows lining the wall of an upstairs classroom. “It hasn’t sat empty for too long, so most of it’s still in good shape.”
A few years ago, Najpauer expects a developer would have taken the property for $1, renovated the building, and made up the cost by developing the rest of the 4.5-acre property.
For about 10 months, the building has been listed in a request for proposals for sale for $1 to any buyer who can demonstrate a viable business model. Although several parties have toured the building, none expressed serious interest. Najpauer attributes this to the real estate market.
The most likely use for the building would be residential properties, such as apartments or condominiums, Najpauer said. Without a strong real estate market, it would be difficult to recoup the costs of renovation, which Najpauer estimates to be around $2 million. This is typical for a building like AD Gray, he said.
Unfortunately, the building must be heated to prevent its roof drains from freezing, which greatly increases the cost to the town. It costs the town about $14,000 per year for the building to sit empty, according the town.
Largely because of this cost, the Waldoboro Board of Selectmen directed the town manager to seek bids for demolition. The selectmen will have to authority to reject all bids and not demolish the building if they choose.
Najpauer told the selectmen he sees five options for the building: continue the request for proposals in its current form; split the main school building and the wood frame office building into separate parcels and try to sell them individually; find a temporary occupant to defray upkeep costs; demolish the building; or list it with a real estate agent or place it up for auction.
The building was listed for sale for several years before the town began the request for proposals. Additionally, the last option would remove the stipulation that the buyer must present a business model for town approval, thus opening the undesirable possibility that a buyer could purchase the building and then allow it sit empty for an extended period of time.
Although the selectmen voted to pursue demolition bids, the process will likely be an extended one, said Town Manager John Spear. Not only will it likely take some time to prepare a request and receive the bids, there will also be a substantial cost associated with demolition, which will likely require a town meeting vote to raise the funds.
Najpauer said on Jan. 30 that if it were his building, he’d hold onto it for a few more years until the market comes back. “Only because I have a soft spot for old buildings,” he said. “It comes down to whether the community or the developer places value on the history and significance of the building.”