Williamstown Preschool Asks Town to Help Buy Church
 Katie Swayby and Tracy McConnell explained long-term financial plans to keep the former Methodist church in tip-top shape if the preschool is helped to purchase it. |
The preschool is hoping the Community Preservation Committee will recommend spending $250,000 toward buying United Methodist Church, which is for sale.
The school has operated out of the church’s property for nearly 40 years and now is hoping the committee will use some of its $469,361 budget to help purchase the entire building.
The school has operated out of the church’s property for nearly 40 years and now is hoping the committee will use some of its $469,361 budget to help purchase the entire building.
The school pitched the plan Tuesday for the second time and now the project is in the hands of the committee, which needs to make a decision by March 28 for it to go before town meeting. A total of seven projects are vying for the funds.
"There is $1.4 million of great ideas on the table today," said committee member Christopher Winters. "But this is not a competition and there is a virtue in saving."
The committee does not need to use all of its budget this year and can hold onto funds for future projects. The preschool could cost nearly half of the available funds.
“We have an updated project cost of $456,165 and we're assuming a purchase price of the church of $325,000 but that's still in negotiations," said Katie Swayby, preschool board member, at Tuesday's meeting.
"After the community preservation act put in $250,000, we'd be putting in about $206,000 of our own money. This would leave a little over $100,000 in our reserves which we feel is necessary."
Members working on the purchase gave a detailed proposal to the committee that included maintenance budgets, expansion plans, use of space and the school's future.
If the school succeeds in purchasing the property, an additional toddler room would be built and increase enrollment by nine students.
"We have a waiting list so we know there are toddlers waiting," Sue Hamblin, school director, said. "Every year there is about 25 families on that waiting list."
School officials also showed how they would use each room in the church for school activities. Maintaining the building should not be a problem, they said. The school will embark on a capital campaign for later renovations and pay $12,000 a year to a maintenance fund.
Another question the committee had regarded an increase in traffic and parking. According to Jamie Art, a local attorney and parent, the nearby Williamstown Savings Bank was unconcerned with the additional traffic as long as it does not interfere when the bank is open. Art expressed confidence that the school would work with parents to ensure that was not an issue.
"The bank isn't worried about the quick drop-offs and pickups or anything during nonbanking hours," Art said. "The preschool manages to do a good job with the parking that is available."
Speaking on behalf of the church, Ronald Turbin said the congregation supports the preschool taking over because it would prevent the building from being sold and demolished. The Williamstown and North Adams Methodist congregations recently joined and put both their buildings on the market to pay for a new structure.
"We're willing to negotiate a price well below the appraisal to do our part in helping them," Turbin told the committee.
Supporting the preschool could also help another proposal set forth by the Methodists at no immediate cost to the town. The congregants are asking for funds to remove its historic organ, store it and put it back together at the new location. However, church officials do not know when a new building will be found.
The organ could stay on the property and save about $200 a month in storage costs.
The committee did not show much support for the organ preservation proposal nor did it seem keen on preserving the Sand Springs pool (which will not open this year) or a proposal to purchase the Wylde property as a way to access Bridge's Pond.
The committee did support committing funds to repair the chimney on the 1753 House in Field Park.
