GORHAM – With town councilors delaying any decisions this week, the fate of two dinosaur Gorham school buildings remains undetermined.

Tuesday’s Gorham council agenda had called for approving $175,000 to demolish the vacant White Rock School building and to clean up the 10-acre site. The council also was scheduled to name a building committee for the former Little Falls School. Both actions were put off.

Voters last week approved borrowing up to $500,000 to be spent on the Little Falls building, which now serves as a community center, and the Little Falls Recreation area. But the ballot question did not specify any future use of the building.

While Gorham has two old school buildings on its hands, the town faces a quandary about relieving cramped space at its Public Safety Building that houses both police and fire/rescue departments.

Town Councilor Matthew Robinson said Tuesday he favored holding a workshop on all three buildings.

“We need to look at all our buildings to see what our options are,” Robinson said.

The council agreed, scheduling the workshop at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 18, in the municipal center to discuss the three buildings.

More and more, communities find themselves faced with decisions about old school buildings. Westbrook converted its former junior high school to a community center, and now has its former Prides Corner Elementary School up for sale. Gorham a few years ago transformed its former junior high school into a modern municipal complex for town and school offices, in addition to housing its recreation department with a gym.

Gorham’s single-story White Rock School on North Gorham Road opened in November 1962. The town lists its assessed value at more than $2 million. The White Rock School closed when the new Great Falls Elementary School opened in 2011.

Town Councilor Shonn Moulton said he favored demolishing of the White Rock School, citing the $7,000 expense to heat the building and the potential of the roof falling in this winter.

“I think it’s time to move,” Moulton said Tuesday.

The council on the motion of Michael Phinney, council vice chairman, moved to postpone the demolition decision to April. It was approved 6-1 (Moulton opposed).

The council unanimously, 7-0, also tabled naming a building committee for the old Little Falls School on Acorn Street. The Lakes Region Senior Center, which includes Windham members, meets in the building, which is also utilized by the Gorham Recreation Department.

Gorham officials in the past have weighed the option of using a renovated Little Falls School building or its 6.5-acre site for either a police or fire station to alleviate crowded conditions at the Public Safety Building, 270 Main St.

At one time, Little Falls was eyed as a potential site for a joint fire station with Windham, replacing an aging one that the two towns share in South Windham.

The Little Falls School, assessed at $1.4 million, opened in the 1950s as a replacement for the old Robie School. It last served as a school under a lease to the Sebago Educational Alliance, which moved to Buxton in 2011.

Through the years, the Little Falls building had served as an elementary school and later as a kindergarten. In 2003, Little Falls housed Gorham’s sixth grade until its new middle school opened.

Gorham Town Manager David Cole said Tuesday the Little Falls roof is in poor condition and has an aging heating system. but the furnace is still operating. Cole also said some windows are in poor condition.

Cole said a facilities study indicated a cost of $1.8 million to refresh the building as a school.

While voters approved money for renovating the building, a future use has not been determined yet. “I’m not sure we’re ready for a committee,” said Robinson, who asked whether Windham is putting up $250,000 for a renovation.

“The important thing is to maintain a town asset,” Town Councilor John Pressey said.

Blanche Alexander of Gorham spoke on behalf of the senior citizens who meet there and invited councilors to visit the senior center.

Glen Lynds of Windham, president of Lakes Region Senior Center, which also has members from Standish, Raymond and Gray, urged the council to keep the building as a community center. Lynds said it has a great location and features a gym, kitchen and several rooms.

It’s “vitally” important to seniors, Lynds said.

In another matter, Gorham councilors rejected a request for the town to donate $2,204.98 as its share of proceeds from the sale of assets of the South Windham Public Library to the Windham Historical Society, which moved the building to its historic park.

The building is now sitting on blocks.

“We need a foundation,” Linda Griffin, president of Windham Historical Society, said to Gorham councilors.

Gorham previously gave the Windham group $3,000, representing cost of demolition, to move the quaint library. The library, which closed in the summer, was located in Little Falls on private property on the Gorham bank of the Presumpscot River that divides the two towns.

Little Falls School in Gorham now houses the Lakes Region Senior Center. Voters approved borrowing up to $500,000 to improve it, though how that will be spent has yet to be determined.
Gorham’s White Rock School, now 50 years old, has an assessed value of $2 million. It closed in 2011 when the new Great Falls Elementary School opened.