Select Board will bid out the former Decas school property

Town Meeting voted to allow the Select Board to lease or sell the former John William Decas Elementary School property. 

At the Oct. 26 Town Meeting, Sullivan said the costs on the building are “pretty astronomical right now.” It costs $100,000 for fuel and electricity with minimal usage. It will also be difficult to sell quickly, he said. 

“In local government, our responsibility is to honor our past, plan for the future, but we need to service our community’s needs today,” he said. “And having that financial albatross around our neck really hurts us and will reduce our ability to provide services.”

The property will now be bidded out and could potentially be an indoor sports complex.

Some expressed they wanted the land to be used for a public service or educational purposes, and Howard Smith of the Minutemen and Militia Companies wanted the bronze plaque dedicated on the school property to be protected. 

The Decas school at 760 Main St. has been closed since January 2022. The property has an appraised value of about $13.9 million and a land value of about $1.5 million.

In 2022, a portion of town voters and the Decas School Steering Committee recommended that the property be used for a Council on Aging center or a community center. Town Administrator Derek Sullivan proposed moving town services into the Decas building, converting Town Hall into a police station and the Multi-Service Center into a community center. 

Voters decided in a narrow vote at the 2022 Town Meeting to not turn the building into a community center.