ROYALSTON – As the town decides what is to be done with the building known as Fire Station #1, some potential complications have arisen.

At the Aug. 15 meeting of the Selectboard, Building Committee Chair Jim Barclay presented several options, but cautioned that any action taken will need input from other town boards. Fire Station #1 is located next to the Congregational Church on The Common and was built in 1852, the same year as the church.

The Selectboard has been discussing what to do with the building in light of recent news that it needs approximately $50,000 in repairs, including a new roof. Barclay believes it is within the board’s purview to make its own decisions on what to do.

“You can fix it or not,” he said. “You can, in fact, walk away from it.”

Barclay then referred the board to a report issued nearly 50 years ago by the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, in which it conducted a study of The Common.

“It was declared to be—by both historical survey and historical architecture—the most representative common in the state of Massachusetts,” Barclay told the board. “A statement (from the society) says, ‘Any deletion of a building, or the addition of an intrusion, would be catastrophic.’”

“I’m not saying you make a decision based on that,” he said. “I’m simply saying if your decision is to take the building down, expect push-back. We need to have our ducks all in a row. If you can’t fix it, you can’t fix it. I’m just saying that little building there was built when the church was.”

Selectboard Chair Deb D’Amico said it was important to determine how historically significant the building is, and suggested speaking with the Historical Commission. Barclay agreed, adding that many people believe that The Common as a whole should remain unchanged.

Board member Rick Martin said the town has offered to transfer the building to the church for a dollar. Another suggestion was selling it to the Historical Society for $1.

“The town at this time, or very shortly, will have no use for the building. We’re moving the hearses (stored there) to the hearse houses, we’re storing the (antique) fire engine at the DPW because they’re doing considerable work on it,” Martin said. “And anything stored there for the Raymond School has been moved over to the Raymond School. Right now, we have a building that we have no use for, as far as we know, and a $50,000 bill. It seems like that money could be better spent. Maybe the church can fix it for less than $50,000; we can’t.”

Martin then brought up another complication—whether there was a deed transfer for the building. He said if none could be found, it couldn’t be sold.

“What is the legal path here?” D’Amico asked. “Can we say there is a deed that we have that we can transfer to the church? I would suggest that we consult Town Counsel about the sale of a building that is owned by the town but not on town property. That’s another obstacle.”

Barclay said the only deed he knows of for any building on The Common is for Town Hall, adding that it’s possible the town could simply give it to the church at no cost and without any kind of transfer. Martin said he’s speak with the Assessor’s Office regarding the possible existence of a deed. The matter was tabled until the board speaks with Town Counsel.

Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com.

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