Community Corner

Fitch Middle School May House Groton Recreation Programs

School district begins making plans for its use, but will hold the building as swing space.

Groton school district employees are clearing part of Fitch Middle School to allow the town recreation department to continue to use the gymnasium, and at some point may offer a larger chunk of the building.

Wes Greenleaf, director of facilities and grounds for Groton Public Schools, said employees are building a wall to separate the gym from the rest of the former school, so young people and others who use it for recreation have access to the gym, bathrooms and locker rooms but not other areas.

The job is expected to be done in about two weeks. School officials are also clearing a portable classroom on the building’s left side for use by recreation.

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In the future - possibly by next spring - the school department could make a larger portion of the building available.

The section under consideration is the middle part of Fitch, which includes eight classrooms and the cafeteria.

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“It’s the dead center of the building,” Greenleaf said.  The old high school is the two-story front you see from Fort Hill Road; the back section is the old elementary.

Greenleaf said town and school staff are discussing how they might make use of the middle area and how they would handle the cost, opening it and maintaining it.

Jerry Lokken, manager of recreation services for Groton, said the department is just grateful now it can continue to use the gym. He said it has no immediate plans to expand, but is interested in the idea.

If the middle section did become available, Lokken said the department would look at its use of William Seely School, where it offers most of its indoor activities.

“I think for a number of reasons, Fitch has some advantages," Lokken said. "It’s in the center of town, it’s probably more convenient for a number of people, (it's) a bigger space and it’s in pretty good shape. It was a school just a couple of months ago. . . It certainly is something we have an interest in exploring.”

The school district will not turn over Fitch Middle although it will allow its use, Greenleaf said; it wants to keep the building for swing space when other schools are renovated or modernized. Greenleaf said he believes that could occur within four years, depending on the construction plans voters choose.

In the meantime, the district is taking the best equipment and furniture from Fitch Middle and replacing older furniture throughout the district. About half the items the district wants to move have been relocated.

Items kept in the building will be covered with plastic. Some furniture will also be stored in an annex at Pleasant Valley Elementary, Greenleaf said. 

The school department may also relocate a school program called “virtual education,” in which about 25 students who cannot be taught in regular classrooms meet at the central office.

“The idea is to use Fitch Middle School where it’s appropriate,” Greenleaf said. “And to keep it in reserve.”


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