WMS Repurpose Advisory Committee to examine new uses for school

By Ed Pierce

Tasked to serve as an advisory group to the Windham Town Council to analyze potential uses for the Windham Middle School’s renovation design, construction and potential benefit as a Community Center, the WMS Repurpose Advisory Committee has held its first meeting.

Members of the Windham Middle School Repurpose
Advisory Committee will determine if the school 
building can accommodate identified space for town
facilities and agencies and become the town's 
Community Center once the school has been
vacated in 2027 with the construction of the new
Windham Raymond Middle School. 
PHOTO BY ED PIERCE 

Committee members met at Windham Town Hall for the first time on Tuesday evening to review the group’s mission and will gather again at 8 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 1 to take a tour of the school facility and to see first-hand what possibilities the building could hold for the community when construction of the new Windham Raymond Middle School is completed in 2027 and the building.

Last fall, Windham Town Councilors reconfigured the committee’s membership to include three members of the town council (Jarrod Maxfield, Nick Kalogerakis and Bill Reiner); Windham Town Manager Barry Tibbetts as a non-voting member; Assistant Windham Town Manager Bob Burns as a non-voting member; Windham Parks & Recreation Director Linda Brooks as a non-voting member, Deb Matthews as a Parks & Recreation Advisory Committee member; Windham Library Director Jen Alvino-Wood as a non-voting member; Catherine Miller as a Windham Public Library Board of Trustees member; Brian Morian, Windham Public Works Director as a non-voting member; and Rene Daniel, the Windham General Assistance Administrator as a non-voting member. Other committee members include Chuck Daigle, Windham’s Code Enforcement Deputy Director as a non-voting member; Erica Bell-Watkins as the Age Friendly Windham Coordinator as a non-voting member; Stan Rintz and Cathy Streifel as prior Community Center Ad Hoc Committee members; and up to five members of the public.

During a Windham Town Council meeting on Jan. 14, councilors voted to increase the Windham Middle School Repurpose Advisory Committee’s number of community member participants from two to five, add a code enforcement officer member and correct a position title for an existing staff member. Councilors appointed Matthew Irving, Anne Daigle, Marge Govoni, Peter Small and Lorraine Glowczak to the committee as community members.

Committee members will review the community center engagement results from August 2019 which identified multigenerational flexible spaces for a range of activities. Members will determine if the middle school building can accommodate those identified spaces within the current structure and/or future spaces around the facility. They will also further determine any new spaces not in the current building and the phasing opportunities and costs.

The committee will determine if the municipal services for can be accommodated within the middle school building, including the Windham Public Library, the Windham Parks & Recreation Department, the Windham Social Services and Food Pantry and the Windham Medical Loan Closet and any other uses for the facility.

Eventually, committee members will determine in what areas municipal departments will use space and the renovation costs or new costs for such space. They will perform a complete review of the building’s condition, strengths and weaknesses of existing current town facilities and how they relate to current and future town needs.

The existing Windham Middle School building opened in 1974. Committee members will use community engagement results from a study conducted in August 2019 which identified the need to create a multi-generational facility for all Windham residents that enhances the quality of life for Windham, provides flexible spaces for a range of activities, and is a self-sustaining site that fosters fun for residents.

Town councilors consider this a vital working committee became members will recommend and prioritize improvements to the current building structure as appropriate for initial use and possible phased uses and provide an operational budget for the facility including manpower estimates with anticipated revenues and expenses. The committee is charged with formulating the tax impact calculation of debt and manpower needs which would be determined on the initial building occupation and adding phased additions.

It will report as appropriate to the Windham Town Council on progress made and at a minimum issuing a quarterly report. <