Boys and Girls Club to close pre-school at former Eastman School following voter approval of sale

The Boys and Girls Clubs of Central and Northern New Hampshire will close its pre-school at the former Eastman School this summer.

Having secured voter sign-off, the Concord School District is planning to put the former elementary school in East Concord up for sale. With the sale on the horizon, and considering the less-than-ideal state of the building, the Boys and Girls Club will absorb students and staff into its other locations in the area, including the new community center in Penacook and NHTI.

The center will close June 10, Executive Director Chris Emond said in an announcement.

“The Eastman site has served us so well over the past several years, but the school district has made the decision to sell it and the building [is] in not in the best condition,” Emond wrote in an email to parents. “We could not see ourselves there for another winter.”

The center has been there since 2013. Currently, it has just under 30 students and about half a dozen staff, according to Emond. Most will go to Penacook.

Long term, the organization is looking into other sites as a replacement to help grow capacity in the coming years, Emond said in an interview. It would take several years to find an option, to raise money and to build. In the meantime, shifting children from the Eastman School to other locations is the best option.

“The Club cherished its years at Eastman School and recognizes the decision to move will create some challenges for Club families,” his announcement stated. “We are committed to ensuring a smooth transition for all.”

The Eastman School, rebuilt in 1936, was closed after the district’s elementary consolidation process. Maintenance costs there outpaced revenue from rent, and the school board is also looking to the sale as a cash-building move to help pay for the new middle school. As now required by the district charter, voters gave the board permission to pursue a sale on the November ballot last year.

The board is in the process of putting together a committee, including East Concord residents, to help oversee the Eastman sale.

Board President Pamela Walsh said she hopes that committee could be formed and begin meeting in May. She expects the district will open the location to offers within the year.

“I’d like to see it get on the market as quickly as possible,” Walsh said.

School board members have expressed that selling to a property tax-paying entity would be a priority.

The school is about 18,000 square feet and has an assessed value of roughly $2.6 million. The 4.5 acre lot on the Exit 16 side of Shawmut Street is zoned neighborhood residential, meaning city regulations consider it to be in a village center apt for moderate density. In terms of housing, that means up to 10 units per acre are allowed there by right.

Eastman isn’t the only asset the district is looking to liquidate. The board plans to put questions about the potential sales of the Dewey School and a tract of forested acreage near Broken Ground previously eyed as the middle school site on the ballot this fall. The school building currently SAU offices.