Community Corner

POLL: Should the Fire District Use and Maintain The Former Noank School?

Meeting will be held at 7 p.m. today in the Noank Firehouse

The Noank Fire District will ask its residents today whether they want to seek permission from the town to take over use and maintenance of the former Noank School.

What do you think of the idea?

Frank Socha, chairman of the fire district’s executive committee, said a group of eight residents have been meeting since December to talk about the property and how it might be used.

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A fire district meeting will be held at 7 p.m. in the Noank Firehouse Meeting Hall.

Socha said the purpose is to ask residents if the executive committee should go forward with seeking

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Potential Uses

“What we want to do is use the building for community purposes, be it meeting space, function space where people can gave parties or get togethers,” Socha said.

He said the school could also be used for fire district office space, storage for the historical society, and gatherings of groups like the Mystic Noank Community Band.

The school was originally built in 1947, and was added to in 1963. Last fall, a task force charged with and the fire district be given six months to present a plan for it.

Community Support

Raymond Johnson, one of the eight residents in Noank who began meeting in December, said the district wants to see if the community supports the concept before it goes forward.

“We do not plan to be the tail wagging the dog,” he said. “We do not plan to make decisions behind their backs without first getting their approval. We feel that we are a small committee who is supposed to represent the feelings of the community.

"And if we don’t get community support for an initiative at the school, we don’t have a project.”

Costs and Upgrades

Johnson said the fire district would have to take on basic maintenance of the building, estimated at a cost of about $30,000. The expense would require a tax rate increase of one tenth of one mill, or about $10 on a home valued at $100,000.

“As one of our members said, that’s the equivalent of two cokes a week,” Johnson said.

He said the building needs a heating system of some kind and roof work, but the group does not yet have firm estimates on what those would cost. Johnson said it could proceed with seeking grants and other monies if the district approves the idea.

He also said the fire district wouldn’t have to use the whole building, but could close off areas, keeping them in tact for the future.

Socha said he believes groups could begin moving in the school as it is now. He said some cleanup could be done such as painting.

Socha said he hopes fire district residents will share their ideas about how to best use the school.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for the fire district,” Socha said. “And I think I would be remiss if I didn’t take a shot at that.


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