ROYALSTON – A public meeting called last week to discuss the future of a single building ultimately morphed into a discussion about the overall future of the town.

Several dozen residents gathered on Thursday, Nov. 2, to mull potential uses for Whitney Hall, the 118-year-old former school building located in Royalston’s South Village.

Representatives of Phoenix-based Keen Independent Research presented results of a community survey answered by approximately 60 residents regarding their opinion of the town’s needs, as well as their ideas for Whitney Hall.

Keen Senior Consultant Heather Calvin presented survey results indicating that “generating economic activity in town” was the town’s number one need, according to survey respondents. When presented with the proposition that Whitney Hall be used to generate economic activity, “This is where we start to see a real divide or divergence of opinion,” said Calvin. “We have as many people ‘strongly disagreeing’ as we do ‘strongly agreeing.’ That’s important – I want to emphasize that.”

Of the potential uses proposed for Whitney Hall, the majority of respondents opposed using the building for town offices – which is its current use – as well as re-purposing it as a business incubator. The prospect of it being used as a place for the townspeople to gather for community needs garnered the most support.

The majority of respondents also indicated the town should open Whitney Hall to purchase by “a private organization or developer.” The possibility of maintaining the building’s exterior while also closing off the interior drew the most negative responses. Responses were fairly evenly split among respondents when faced with the idea of simply demolishing the building.

Keen Associate Principal Alex Keen said an assessment undertaken by Trahan Architects of New Orleans indicated that there is immediate need for repairs to maintain the building as it is. Eventually, supports will need to be replaced in the building. Keen said there needs to be a further assessment to make sure there’s no more water damage. The assessment of the exterior indicated it was in fair condition.

“It’s not going to fall down tomorrow, but it’s certainly not what we had hoped for,” Keen said. “There’s a lot of wear and tear on the building.”

Keen said masonry is deteriorating and improvements should be made to drainage, plumbing and the electrical system. In addition, the building needs to be made handicapped-accessible, including installation of an elevator and construction of accessible bathroom facilities. Support for the roof and the second floor need to be upgraded, as does the HVAC system.

Renovations to the building, depending on the scope of the project, could range from $4.6 to $16.3 million.

Calvin then pointed out that the town needs to make some hard choices regarding future priorities. She asked rhetorically if it would be wise for the town to commit to spending millions on Whitney Hall when there are other town-owned buildings in need of repair. This includes the Raymond Building, Phineas S. Newton Library, Fire Station #1, a pair of historic hearse houses, the Department of Public Works garage, Town Hall, and others.

“We have a lot of other things to think about,” said Selectboard Chair Deb D’Amico. “We have a fire department and a police department that are inadequate. We have the Raymond School, which is waiting for us to figure out how we’re going to fund what we need to do. There are a lot of competing issues here.”

D’Amico said efforts to put together a strategy for developing a master plan will continue. In the meantime, Keen will work on putting together a final strategy for developing or marketing Whitney Hall.

Resident Phil Rabinowitz said, “I look around this room and most of us are like in our 70s. I’ve had 50 wonderful years in this town, but I’m not going to be here for another 50. What we need is more of the younger folks who are in town and who are going to be living here – I hope – for the next 50 years; they need to be a part of this.”

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