Aldermen 'receive and file' proposal for vacant Hallsville School
Apr. 26—Manchester aldermen have rejected a proposal to convert the vacant Hallsville School building into a mixed-use community center and instead directed city officials to solicit ideas for the property.
Earlier this year, Southern New Hampshire Services and Granite State Children's Alliance submitted a plan to convert the vacant Hallsville School building into a facility serving everyone from children to seniors. City officials raised concerns over a lack of communication with neighbors and a key piece of the plan — giving the building to organizers for free.
The building and associated parcels were appraised at $4.4 million in 2017.
In a letter to aldermen, Southern New Hampshire Services Executive Director and former Nashua Mayor Donnalee Lozeau says the project would include the Child Advocacy Center and Granite State Children's Alliance, 20 units of elderly housing, an early child development classroom and/or a Head Start classroom.
Lozeau said organizers planned to keep the existing gymnasium available for public use, along with a small playground.
"Our ask of the city is to be a partner in this remarkable project by providing this building at no cost to the project," she wrote. "We ask this because of the unprecedented cost of construction and materials that we are faced with."
Current estimates for the project come in at $8 million minimum, Lozeau wrote.
Members of the Aldermanic Committee on Lands and Buildings voted unanimously to receive and file the plan, effectively killing the proposal — for now.
"They can always resubmit it," said Alderman Tony Sapienza before the vote.
A community forum held this month to solicit thoughts on the future of the school building generated dozens of ideas, ranging from affordable housing for families to a multicultural youth center, to housing for seniors.
Aldermen directed staff in the planning and solicitor's department, along with the Manchester Economic Development Office, to draft a Request for Interest for the site for approval at their next meeting in May.
"The request for interest would allow everybody and anybody to put in what they would like to do with it," said Alderman Pat Long. "A request for proposals would sort of box you in to what the proposals are."
"Anybody can come back to us with thoughts on what they'd like to do with the building, what they'd like to pay for the building, and whatever terms they'd like to put under it," said Alderman June Trisciani.
Officials said they would include language in the request addressing concerns about the impact any project may have on traffic, the neighborhood and the city's desire to address affordable housing needs.
"We're not tying anybody's hands," Long said.
The final bell rang at Hallsville last June, 130 years after it opened. Former Superintendent of Schools John Goldhardt recommended the school be closed as part of the Fiscal Year 2022 budget.
Several projects to repurpose old school buildings in the city offer a window into what could happen at the Hallsville site.
In the late '90s, the Brown School was to be handed over to the city, with plans to convert it into the new West Side branch library and an elderly center. The Amory Street property is now home to apartments run by the city housing authority.
In 2007, SilverTech Inc., a city-based web services company, entered a purchase and sales agreement to buy the former Ash Street School building at 196 Bridge St.
The property was an elementary school that later served as the Manchester School District's administrative building.
The former Varney School became a complex for the elderly, known as the Varney School Apartments.
