Cotuit elementary school: Voters said 'no' to demolition. Why the question is back.

A recent vote to give the former Cotuit Elementary School a reprieve from demolition will stand, even though the warrant for the Cotuit Fire District's upcoming annual meeting asks voters to consider spending $1.1 million to tear the 69-year-old building down.

At a special meeting of the fire district on May 4, which drew what the Cotuit-Santuit Civic Association described as a "record crowd," Cotuit Village residents agreed to hold off on razing the building at 140 Old Oyster Road as recommended by the district's Prudential Committee — a plan that failed to gain the two-thirds majority needed with a 128-90 vote.

By a vote of 92-91 they instead chose to support a competing proposal put forth by citizens' petition to study other alternatives more closely before making a final decision.

Prudential Committee Chairwoman Frances Parks acknowledged the warrant for the district's annual meeting, set for May 29, includes both proposals — demolition and further study — but villagers won't actually be voting again on the matter. The annual meeting warrant, she explained, closed before the May 4 special meeting, and so retains both proposals.

The Prudential Committee will not have its demolition article voted on, she said,

"The Prudential Committee will now engage an architectural firm to evaluate the current condition of the school," Parks said.

The committee will ask the consultants "to address leaving the gym and a few of the classrooms" and to "determine the possible uses of the building," she said. "Those are the requirements of the warrant article."

Another district meeting will be scheduled to present the results of the study.

Hopes for a community center

A group of villagers who have formed the Cotuit Community Center nonprofit put forth the successful May 4 special meeting article calling for the professional study. They expect the study to produce options for repurposing all or parts of the school building, and to provide estimated costs so residents can be better prepared to decide on what will be next for the property. The vote staves off further action for a year.

Residents supporting the study are hoping there is a chance to save all or part of the building to provide the village with a much-needed community center for recreation, gatherings, and meetings and possibly to house district offices.

John Havel, a member of the Cotuit Community Center board, noted prior to the May 4 special district meeting that $207,500 was approved in 2021 for a district space needs study, including the school, but "that did not happen." Part of that funding will pay for the feasibility study and analysis of the costs the district could be looking at to repurpose all or part of the building.

Havel suggested one option could be to "just keep the extremely popular and beautifully built gym." At the end of the day, he said, if the study concurs that demolition is the way to go, then at least the residents will not be left with any lingering what-ifs.

George Foy, another member of the community center group, said although there are interested donors for some kind of rehabilitation project, community center proponents "have always believed it is premature to draft a specific funding/rehab plan before making a comprehensive and objective study of all possible uses for the building."

Havel said the citizens who supported the study really were only "asking for time" to get a thorough analysis done so residents can make a more educated decision about the school.

Prudential Committee concerned about poor building condition

The Cotuit school, built in 1955, was closed as a local elementary school in 2009. The private Waldorf School of Cape Cod used the space until 2019, before moving to Sandwich. The building was then declared surplus and has been vacant ever since. Last year, the property was transferred from the town of Barnstable to the Cotuit Fire District.

The three-member Prudential Committee has cited the poor condition of the building and an onerous multi-million dollar estimated cost of refurbishing it as the reason for recommending demolition. According to the board, the building needs about $4 million to make it habitable, as it has extensive water damage from roof leaks, and there are ceiling tiles and moldy insulation coming down onto the floors.

Further, Parks noted, the interior of the building was recently severely damaged by vandals, whose identities remain unknown. She said they broke windows, destroyed the emergency lighting, broke replacement fluorescent bulbs all over the building, and took a sledgehammer to toilets and sinks.

While the future of the building remains undecided, the district has increased monitoring with the addition of heat sensors and motion detectors, "so if anybody comes in a window it's going to set an alarm off," Parks said.

If voters eventually go ahead with demolition, Parks said the plan would be to keep the site as open space. Since it's just 400 or 500 feet from one of the village's water wells, she said, "this would be to further protect that well."

Heather McCarron can be reached at hmccarron@capecodonline.com, or follow her on X @HMcCarron_CCT.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Former Cotuit Elementary School gets reprieve from demolition, for now