To the editor:
On Nov. 9, 2021, the town of Waldoboro issued a request for proposals to purchase the 1857 Friendship Street School. The town was rightly looking for a buyer who would acknowledge the building’s historic value, fit with the village, private market housing and/or commercial uses, and, of course, pay taxes.
The $1.4 million proposal – fully available on the town’s website – was submitted by the proposed FSS LLC on Jan. 18, 2022. It called for developing five single-bedroom, moderately affordable rentals for local senior residents with the potential for ownership, but consistent with meeting state and federal historic guidelines and listing on the National Registry of Historic Places.
As lead co-developer, I offered $1 as a placeholder until a purchase price could more accurately be gauged. To that end an application was submitted to the Maine Historic Preservation Commission. The historic application process typically takes a good 10 months. Even then the outcome was uncertain on the extent of the credit, which cannot be used to help cover acquisition costs.
Given the time involved in that process – and the hot real estate market in Maine – the town recently put the building on the market. It was snapped up quickly – well over the listing price – and is now under contract pending the town’s approval of a June 14 town meeting warrant article that authorizes a sale.
Originally called the Brick School House, and then the Free High School, Friendship Street School, the school was not built without controversy. At that time “Waldoborough” had 31 sprawling districts, most of which were not focused on the quality and care of young people’s education, pre-Civil War, if at all.
Known as the Village District No. 6, a group of village citizens got together in the wake of the great 1854 fire that wiped out most of the village proper, put up the money for the free school, meet evolving state accreditation standards, and join the ranks of Maine’s public schools emerging at that time. The building maintained its purpose as a school for over 160 years, until Head Start vacated it last September.
Thankfully, many local residents – too numerous to name – helped with the preparation of the application for designation as an historic site. Hopefully the new buyer of the Friendship Street School will undertake a project that will contribute to Waldoboro’s economic future, while preserving some of its history.
Ron Phillips
Waldoboro
