Shuttered Hoxie School in Bourne may have new life, still serving children
NORTH SAGAMORE ―The Ella F. Hoxie Elementary School, which was built in 1909 near the canal and closed in 2009, may have a new future.
The Bourne Select Board on Nov. 1 authorized Town Administrator Marlene McCollem, toward the end of a two-hour meeting, to pursue a purchase and sale agreement for the historic structure.
What has seemed an intractable issue for selectmen of what to do with the former school may be resolved soon. But there was no public comment by the board or McCollem other than to identify Anna’s Pals as the potential Hoxie buyer.
The West Roxbury-based nonprofit’s mission is to improve the lives of hospitalized youngsters and their families, especially through a “beach house that is safe for pediatric cancer patients, who are immuno-compromised kids.”
Select Board Chairman Peter Meier could not be reached for comment, but the Hoxie disposition has been a top goal for McCollem this year.
Anna’s Pals was the only respondent to a formal request for proposals (RFP) issued by McCollem for the Williston Road building in which five generations of Bourne students were educated, some of whom had Ella Hoxie as a teacher before she became the school's principal.
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Town inspectors in 2010 advised selectmen that the wood-framed school building should be abandoned and demolished in the town’s best interest; advice that also applied to Coady Middle School built on Cotuit Road in Bourne Village in 1906, which is now converted to apartments.
There was some interest in renovating the Hoxie school building. The structure was reviewed by a firm that specializes in taking old schools and converting them to apartments for the elderly, similar to the Coady building. But the Hoxie venture went nowhere.
A group of Bourne citizens tried to forge art, education, science and cultural center in the school. But that fell apart when it came to the town’s attention that a construction invoice had been altered; prompting an investigation that led to a 2016 invoicing scandal of manufactured vouchers.
No criminal charges were filed. No authorized Community Preservation Act funds were spent on suspect invoices, but various contractors were paid after invoice scrutiny by town and police officials.
A historic deed restriction, meanwhile, precludes building demolition unless both the Massachusetts Historical Commission and town officials agree that restoration or reconstruction are impractical or impossible.
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The Hoxie property includes one parking lot but does not include the community ballfield at Willison and Scusset Beach roads. The shingled building with white columns at its entrance seems to have outwardly weathered well with some care, minimum heating in winter and insurance payments by the town.
Bourne used the Hoxie gym for decades for its Precinct 2 polling station. During World War II the gym housed an artillery battery contingent that operated on nearby Sagamore Hill, protecting the canal’s east end.
The Hoxie school cost $15,000 to build, according to town records. The gym was added in 1938 for $18,500. The school is a favorite on the Bourne History website given its geographical proximity to canal construction in the early 1900s and Sagamore Bridge construction in the early 1930s.
Ella Hoxie started teaching at the school in 1923, retiring in 1971. Debra Howard was Hoxie’s last principal before the school closed.
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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Hoxie elementary school in Bourne may be sold to Anna's Pals charity
