Rochester moves to demolish Nancy Loud School, considers recreation options for site

ROCHESTER — Rochester will seek bids to demolish the historic Nancy Loud School, located at 5 Cocheco Road in East Rochester.

Following a meeting on April 16, where City Councilors heard that it is not financially feasible to save the 1880 school building, Mayor Paul Callaghan told City Manager Katie Ambrose that the demolition can be placed on the next council agenda for approval.

Nancy Loud School no longer safe to enter

Ambrose said she was informed that it was not safe for people to even enter the school to evaluate it unless work is done to shore up the building. She said an estimate for that work exceeds $280,000, and it would be her recommendation that the school be torn down.

After being deemed unsafe for occupancy, the city and the school district closed the school last August, transferring children and staff to other district elementary schools.

"A contractor hired to take the building down will likely need to deal with lead paint and asbestos," said Ambrose.

The pool at the site is regularly used by the community. Ambrose said a construction fence will be erected around the building but that the city will not hinder access to public use of the pool.

Rochester evaluates future uses for the site

When the school was closed, listening sessions were held in the community to see what people want to do with the property. Ambrose said the consensus was that some type of recreational use was preferred, so she asked the city's recreation directors to bring some proposals to get council and community input to consider the next steps.

Both Mayor Paul Callaghan and Councilor Tim Fontneau said they grew up in the area and attended the school as children.

"I learned how to swim there," said Fontneau. "I skated there, so there is some sentiment involved," said Fontneau. "But I support the demolition and having recreation take over. I would like to see the pool and the playground stay and look to future development. There are two senior housing projects in the area, so maybe we can look at some programming for them and put the property to good use."

Recreation Department offers three ideas

Director of Recreation and Arena Lauren Krans and Assistant Director Steve Trepanier brought three ideas to the city, along with conceptual drawings, not representing any final decision.

The plans include one with a permanent building, possibly a community center on the site, a second with more seasonal structures like gazebos and stage areas, and a third to have no structures at all creating a park area, with playgrounds, walking paths and dog-friendly areas.

"During the listening sessions, it became clear that East Rochester is a village-type community, and that the residents want to maintain that," said Krans. "They do not want to see housing or anything other than some type of recreation. The components there now that people want to keep is the open space, the pool, basketball court, playground, shade structures and parking areas."

Ideas for version A, with a permanent building, suggest that it could be a community/senior center, offering meeting spaces and other city uses.

A seasonal structure, like a large gazebo, could be used for community gatherings and performance opportunities," said Krans.

Adding new landscaping while keeping the playground and pool are the center of the third option, creating a sort of pocket park on the 2.4-acre site, said Krans.

The council supported the demolition of the Nancy Loud School, acknowledging that saving the building will be too costly and that spending money just to find out if it could be saved seemed to be extravagant.

Councilor David Walker suggested the use of a permanent building, if that is the council's choice to create a teen center.

"Idle hands," he said. "We can give teens a place to go and something to do."

Ambrose said she will get bids on demolition and bring the number back to the council. She said the work should be done as soon as possible, to avoid interfering with the use of the pool.

"I believe the pool can remain open," she said.

This article originally appeared on Fosters Daily Democrat: Rochester to demolish Nancy Loud School, considers recreation options