Westbrook School Department central office emerges as a City Hall alternative

WESTBROOK The Westbrook School Departments central office building could play a new role City Hall.

As the city explores options for selling or leasing the building that now houses City Hall, the subsequent move would also involve combining city and school offices under one roof. The frontrunner for a new City Hall is the Fred C. Wescott Building at 426 Bridge St., but the central office is a building that deserves consideration, according to School Superintendent Marc Gousse.

Gousse said this week that old plans for the initial construction of the districts central office, located next door to the high school at 125 Stroudwater St., called for a larger building than was actually constructed. The city could simply add onto the present building and make that City Halls new location, he said.

Gousse stressed, however, that no one had made any decisions yet, and he was not trying to talk anyone into or out of anything.

Its just another opportunity to take a look at, he said.

The City Council recently voted to solicit proposals from commercial brokers, in order to determine the real market value of 2 York St. were the city to sell off the property. The move is the opening act of vacating of the York Street building, which has been anticipated since Wescott Junior High School closed in 2010.

Westbrook officials have a plan to fund renovations of the Wescott building to make it suitable for use as a municipal and school department building, and even have a rough sketch of where new offices would be located, should the move become reality.

The idea, officials have said, is to consolidate unused space the city has, and sell or lease any empty buildings. The need for consolidation has only become more apparent, officials have said, since the School Committee made an initial vote last month to close Prides Corner Elementary School, built in 1950.

The committee is expected to vote to confirm the closure at its next meeting, March 14. Other buildings throughout the city that house public services equipment could also become vacant if the city builds a new, larger complex for that department on Saco Street.

City officials added the consolidation of the schools central offices to its plans to move City Hall after Mayor Colleen Hilton, in a series of high-profile decisions following her inauguration in 2010, combined previously separated school and municipal finance departments, followed by similar consolidations of human resources offices.

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Westbrook School Department central office emerges as a City Hall alternative