Jordan-Small Middle School in Raymond will be turned over to the town in late 2027, with the opening of the combined Windham-Raymond Middle School. Contributed / Rolf Olsen

The Raymond Select Board debated the establishment of a visioning committee, which would look at uses for the soon-to-be shuttered Jordan-Small Middle School, on Dec. 10.

As voted on by residents at the end of 2023, Windham and Raymond plan on merging their middle schools into a single building by September 2027. At that time, Jordan-Small will cease to function as a school, and the building will be turned over to the town.

Speaking to the Lakes Region Weekly, Select Board Chair Rolf Olsen said that the committee was to look at potential uses for the building, and ideas that had previously been discussed include facilities for seniors, a new gym for recreational opportunities, and moving the town offices or the library into the building. The committee would look at short-term and long-term goals for the town, and how the building would best meet those goals.

Olsen said that he did not envision this committee as one that would look at the costs or feasibility of projects, but rather one focused on “pie in the sky” conceptual ideas about possible uses for the building. The town would look for as many stakeholders as possible, he said, ranging from Public Works officials to young people, to give input and from there, a second committee would decide which idea to move forward with.

Shawn McKillop of the Comprehensive Plan Committee said that his committee had already collected data on what the building could be used for. He recommended that, due to the limited timeframe, the Select Board should go “full board” and create a combined committee focusing both on idealistic and practical uses. While he said that he’s in favor of letting the Select Board handle it the way it wants to, and felt like it is well equipped for the task, he felt that having two separate committees seemed unnecessary.

While he applauded the work that the Comprehensive Plan Committee did, Olsen said due to the importance of the school returning to the town, the project should not be fast-tracked, but rather, the focus should be on the use of the building over the next 10 to 15 years. He noted that the new committee could potentially build off the Comprehensive Plan Committee’s existing work.

Select Board member Teresa Sadak said that a couple of people had approached her and asked whether the town would form a committee to vet ideas about how the reuse of the school could best serve the town. Some potential uses are currently held at a local church. The Recreation Department made a recent short-term agreement with Raymond Village Church to use some of its space for age-friendly events, according to Olsen.

The new committee will include representatives from the Comprehensive Plan Committee, the library and a senior citizens group, among other stakeholders, said Select Board member Dennis Morse.

Several residents gave their input on how the building should be used, with many leaning toward building a new community center. One resident agreed with both Olsen and McKillop, and said that there was a new community center in North Yarmouth that was also once a school and the committee should take inspiration from that. She recalled how driving through New England, she saw that every little town had a community center, something Raymond currently lacks.

Similar to Sadak, the speaker suggested that the committee’s charge could be broadened to look at all of the buildings that the town owns and how they’re being used. Parks and Recreation Director Joseph Crocker also spoke, bringing up that Westbrook’s Community Center was also a former school, and that Westbrook had put young people on its building committee for input.

No action was taken on forming a committee regarding how best to reuse the school. Olsen told the Lakes Region Weekly that the town’s main focus was getting the word out in order to get people interested in serving on the committee. Forming the committee will be voted on at a future Select Board meeting.

“You’re gonna want people (serving on the committee) from the age-friendly side,” said Olsen. “You’re gonna want people from the rec side, … the library side … (and) from all the various potential (interest groups) out there to get onto this committee to envision things that could be done in there.”