Orford
The town’s Selectboard voted, 2-1, on Wednesday to sponsor a $500,000 federal Community Development Block Grant for renovations to the three-story building, opening the door for new uses.
The Littleton, N.H.-based nonprofit Affordable Housing Education and Development, or AHEAD, is hoping to transform the old academy into housing, replacing classrooms with about 10 apartment units and a community space.
But before work can begin, the nonprofit is seeking federal funds to ease a projected $3.5 million construction cost.
Municipalities are only able to apply for CDBG grants, meaning AHEAD and the Rivendell Interstate School District, which owns the building, needed Selectboard support to move forward. And it took a contentious 2½ hour meeting before they received it.
Of the almost 30 people who attended Monday’s hearing, many professed support in the project, saying it would save the school district money. A costly renovation would be paid for through grants and by AHEAD, instead of by taxpayers, they said.
“We need to keep paying for that building whatever we do, so our whole purpose is to put that (building) to a good use that is consistent with our education mission and pays for itself,” said Katherine Blanchard, a School Board member who lives in Orford.
But several others worried federal requirements for the project were unfair to Orford residents. The grant does not allow AHEAD to discriminate based on a person’s residence, meaning people living in surrounding communities could be selected to live in the renovated building ahead of long-term residents in town.
Some even questioned whether those seeking housing should be living in a complex a few hundred feet from Rivendell Academy.
Jim McGoff, chairman of the town’s Planning Board, said anti-discrimination policies also would prohibit AHEAD from stopping mentally and physically handicapped seniors from moving in. He compared the proposed project to the Glencliff Home, a state-run facility in Glencliff, N.H., that cares for New Hampshire’s developmentally disabled and mentally ill.
“Do we want something like that beside our school?” he asked.
The comment drew condemnation from some in the crowd, who pointed out that the school itself cannot discriminate against those groups.
Michael Claflin, executive director of AHEAD, said all residents in the nonprofit’s 400 housing units spread out across the North Country receive a background check prior to moving in. The nonprofit also guarantees their income to be sure they can afford rent.
“The academy building is a really beautiful part of our town,” said Judith Parker, a 45-year Orford resident.
Parker pointed to the building’s walking distance to nearby stores, the school and restaurants as benefits to senior housing. The project would also allow the elderly to age in their community rather than having to move to a larger town, she said.
“It just seems like this is a terrific opportunity for us,” Parker said.
The academy has long been a beloved town building, dating back to 1850, when the Orford Academy Association purchased 2 acres of land just east of Orford Street, also known as Route 10.
The three-story Federal-style building was completed in 1851 and opened to nine teachers and a class of 167 students, which included 94 boys and 73 girls, according to a history compiled by Orford historian Carl Schmidt.
The private academy catered to students on both sides of the Connecticut River and even some from Massachusetts. In 1852, 12 boarding students came from the Bay State to Orford, according to Schmidt.
But by 1865, operations at Orford Academy were suspended, likely the result of declining rural populations. Several attempts to restart the school failed and it formally closed its doors in 1871.
Classes came back after the building was sold to the town in 1898. It then served as a two-room grammar school until 1926, when Orford High School was established on the building’s first floor.
A two-story wood-frame addition was added onto the academy in 1937, according to Schmidt. The later acquisition of 20 acres in 1958 also allowed for construction of a gymnasium, cafeteria and classroom building.
Orford High School continued until 2000, when the Rivendell Interstate School District was formed, and classes continued in the building until 2002. Since then, the building has gone unused, aside from storage uses.
The idea of renovating the old Orford Academy has been in the works for more than a decade, beginning in 2005, when a task force was formed to find new uses for the building.
Over the years it has explored turning the building into a health clinic, office space or use as a workforce training facility, said Anne Duncan Cooley, the group’s chairwoman.
“We really searched for a viable use for quite some time,” Duncan Cooley said.
But each time the group came up with an idea, financing couldn’t be found.
That was the case until members approached AHEAD two years ago, Duncan Cooley said. The nonprofit is well-known for subsidized and affordable housing projects in northern Grafton and Coos counties.
At the time, they were finishing up work renovating a historic school building in Berlin, N.H., and had experience working with several historic brick buildings, Duncan Cooley said.
“Their background seemed to be very appropriate for this type of project,” she said. “We haven’t seen anything like this in Orford. This is a big deal in town. It’s a very visible part of our community.”
Ultimately, Orford Selectboard members John Adams and Paul Goundrey voted in favor of seeking the $500,000 federal grant, while David Smith voted no.
The Selectboard’s decision on Wednesday night allows the task force and AHEAD to seek the grant, but only after an initial review from the town attorney.
Several accompanying plans the board approved to qualify for the grant were challenged by Planning Board members, who said those approvals fell under their purview. So, the Selectboard compromised and approved the documents conditionally while the town awaits a review.
Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.
Clarification
Orford Selectboard members John Adams and Paul Goundrey voted in favor of seeking a $500,000 federal grant to renovate the Orford Academy building into senior housing, while David Smith voted no. An earlier version of this story inadvertently omitted how each selectman voted.