Town Council Decides: Noank School Will Be Demolished

According to a report in The Day, it’s been decided. The Noank School will be demolished. The Groton Town Council voted 6-2 Tuesday night to spend the $370,000 it will take to raze the building and remove a buried fuel tank.

Earlier this month, Robert Frink, a member of the permanent school building committee and resident of the fire district, presented a petition to the Council asking it to deny Noank leaders permission to take over the former school. Frink said at the time that the building is in poor condition and the cost of refurbishing should not fall to already overburdened taxpayers.

The fire district wanted to repair the school brickwork, paint the outside metal and wood trim, replace broken or missing windows and cover the leaking roof to the tune of $300,000 to $450,000.

The plan was to seek out grants to have the work done and short of that, leaders wanted to petition taxpayers of the fire district and ask if they would accept a higher tax rate to cover the cost.

According to The Day story, the $370,000 needed to fund the demolition would come from the town’s capital reserve fund. The tax rate will not be impacted, Town Manager Mark Oefinger, according to The Day.