Windham Town Manager to chair WMS Repurpose Advisory Committee

By Ed Pierce

With ground about to be broken next month for construction of the new Windham Raymond Middle School, a town committee will undertake the important job of making recommendations to the Windham Town Council about how best the existing Windham Middle School can used once the new school opens in 2027.

Windham Town Manager Barry Tibbetts will lead the 
Windham Middle School Repurpose Advisory Committee
which will make recommendations to the Windham Town
Council about how to best use the school building once
the new Windham Raymond Middle School is opened
in the fall of 2027. PHOTO BY ED PIERCE  

During the July 9 Windham Town Council meeting, councilors took the step of appointing Windham Town Manager Barry Tibbetts as the chair of the Windham Middle School Repurpose Advisory Committee. By unanimous vote, councilors voted to have Tibbetts fulfill that role as a non-voting and impartial and objective member of the committee.

Council David Nadeau had originally proposed having either a town councilor or the town manager or assistant town manager chair the committee but ultimately withdrew having a councilor as a possible chair for the committee in an amended motion.

“We’ve gone through this before and want to make sure this committee has a little bit of structure and stays on task,” Nadeau said.

Councilor Jarrod Maxfield said having Tibbetts chair the committee makes sense because he is not an elected official.

“I don’t want people to say the council is hijacking it,” Maxfield said.

The purpose of the Windham Middle School Repurpose Advisory Committee will be to serve as an advisory body to the Windham Town Council for the analysis of potential re-uses for the Windham Middle School’s renovation design, documentation, construction and its potential benefit as a Community Center for the town.

The committee will provide a comprehensive recommendation to the Windham Town Council for consideration in making a final determination for the school building, which was first opened to students in 1974.

Committee members will use community engagement results from a study conducted in August 2019 which identified the need to create a multigenerational 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.

It is expected that in repurposing the school building some existing Windham departments, such as the Windham Library, the Windham Parks & Recreation Department, Windham Social Services and Food Pantry and the town’s Medical Loan Closet could be included into new spaces there as well as providing flexible space for the community to engage in various activities.

Currently the Windham Public Library is housed in its own building at 217 Windham Center Road, while the Windham Parks and Recreation offices are at Windham Town Hall on School Road and Windham Social Services is housed in its own building at 377 Gray Road in Windham.

Members of the committee will be asked to evaluate and consider adaptive reuse plans by peer communities as templates when it considers proposing future uses for the facility and develop a conceptual plan using the boundaries of the existing school building. They also will be tasked with reorganizing/repurposing the facility’s space to improve the town employee work experience and customer service experience that encompasses health and safety, access, egress, and security, among other concerns.

The committee will perform a complete review of the condition, strengths and weaknesses of the building and how they relate to current and future town needs, recommend improvements to the building structure as appropriate for initial uses and possible phased uses and provide an operational budget for the facility, including maintenance, manpower, debt structure, and anticipated revenues and expenses.

At the July 9 meeting, three councilors were voted to serve on the Windham Middle School Repurpose Advisory Committee including Maxfield, Councilor Bill Reiner and Councilor Nick Kalogerakis.

Other committee members are appointed by the town council and the town manager (non-voting member); assistant town manager (non-voting member); Parks & Recreation Director (non-voting member); Parks & Recreation Advisory Committee Member; Library Director (non-voting member); Library Board of Trustees Member; Facilities & Grounds Manager (non-voting member); General Assistance Administrator (non-voting member); Age Friendly Windham Coordinator (non-voting member); two prior Community Center Ad Hoc Committee members; and two members of the general public.

Windham Town Council Chair Mark Morrison said that the committee will report regularly to the town council at their meetings during the Committee Reports section.

The Windham Middle School Repurpose Advisory Committee will be disbanded once it makes final recommendations to the Windham Town Council about the repurpose of the school building. <