MONMOUTH — Town voters authorized the Board of Selectmen, by a 588 to 57 vote, to sell the elementary school facility to a developer once it is deeded to the town at the end of the school year. 

Henry L. Cottrell Elementary School and Monmouth Middle School students will move into a new, consolidated school, the Monmouth Memorial School, at the start of the 2020-2021 school year. When the students move out, Regional School Unit 2 will deed the two facilities to Monmouth, as approved by voters during this summer’s Town Meeting

The town will put out a Request for Proposals in 2020 on the development in the spring, said Town Manager Curtis Lunt, with the anticipation for development to be housing, like a nursing home or assisted living. While he doesn’t think that the town will receive money for the building, Lunt said that potentially, the property could bring tax money to the town.

“I would not expect that we would get a bunch of money for it,” he said. “We are more interested in getting it developed.”

The fate of the Monmouth Middle School, which has the facade of the original Monmouth Academy Building, has not been determined. Lunt said that the town does not have a need for the space of both buildings. 

A school reuse task force, developed by the town, has been studying options for the buildings, including whether they should be used, sold or demolished. 

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