Vernon, Vt. — Residents of Vernon are coming to terms with a future without Vermont Yankee. They’re also thinking about what to do with the space once the nuclear power plant is gone.

The town is working with the decommissioning company, Northstar Services, to figure out how to put the 100 acres around the plant to good use. The process of razing the plant will begin next year and could take as little as 10 years, if the state approves the pending sale.

Officials are trying to create a vision for Vernon. Vermont Public Radio reported that one of the ideas is developing a village center.

Patty O’Donnell, a former Vernon state representative, said it has taken time to rethink the future after the plant closed in December 2014.

“You know when you wake up one day and your whole world has changed; it’s an adjustment,” O’Donnell said. “It takes a little while to try to figure out what direction you’re going to go. And we’re on our way to a new future.”

Vernon officials fully support the proposed sale of the nuclear power plant, once an economic driver for the community. State regulators are expected to make a decision on the sale soon.

Local officials, meanwhile, say they’re in no rush to adopt a plan. Vernon Selectboard Chairman Josh Unruh said officials want to make sure it’s done right.

“Decommissioning is totally new, and we wanted to make sure that everything that was happening throughout this process was going to be what was best for Vernon,” he said.