WHATELY — After meeting earlier this week, the Historical Commission is encouraging the Select Board to take the first steps in pursuing a sale of the former Whately Center School with a preservation restriction.

In a letter, the Historical Commission laid out several recommendations for the Selectboard as it figures out the future of the 113-year-old building on Chestnut Plain Road, which was the subject of an unanswered request for proposals (RFP) for a long-term lease. The commission recommends the town prepare an RFP for the sale of the building seeking a developer who is committed to rehabilitating the building; add a historical preservation restriction to the school’s exterior; and protect the well-known Quonquont Milk Bottle and the land around it.

Historical Commission Chair Donna Wiley said Tuesday evening the recommendations are “not in any way final” and that commissioners will share more formalized recommendations by the Select Board’s April 11 meeting.

“We want to work with you and work on behalf of the town,” Wiley told the board.

She said the Historical Commission recommends a historic preservation restriction on the exterior of the building, which will open up several avenues for the buyer through grant opportunities. With the April 11 deadline, Wiley added the commissioners will look at preservation restriction templates for other historical buildings around the state and tailor it to the Center School from there.

Additionally, the Historical Commission requested the Quonquont Milk Bottle be preserved by establishing a permanent easement for access by the Whately Historical Society or by redrawing the property line, a process that has also been pursued in the past for historical purposes.

With the school being a “contributing building” to the town’s historic district and the Quonquont Milk Bottle being in the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s inventory, Wiley said any potential developer would be eligible for Community Preservation Act (CPA) funding, MassDevelopment grants, and several other federal and state grants, loans or tax credits.

Select Board member Fred Baron said he is looking to “get an RFP as soon as we can,” and he is hopeful Wiley and the Historical Commission can have something the board can vote on by April 11.

As the town works through the process, Wiley said officials should “pick up the phone and talk to people in other towns that have managed to solve these problems” because Whately is not on its own when it comes to having to offload historical buildings.

“Everyone is wrestling with this problem,” Wiley said. “We want a solution that will save the building and relieve the town of the carrying costs and let us move forward.”

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com or
413-930-4081.

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