TO RESTORE OR RAZE?

Meeting set on future of former Main Street School

CORINTH, N.Y. >> The historic Main Street School, a two-story 1908 structure in the village, is at the center of a debate between those who want to see it restored, and others who want to have it razed.

The building, owned by Corinth Central Schools, was used until 1994. From 1995 to 2006, it housed Saratoga County Head Start.

Last March, the district planned to raze the old school to make room for a parking lot and improvements at the adjacent football field as part of a school capital project. Residents who felt it important to further investigate options for preserving the historic structure asked for time to conduct a feasibility study to evaluate possible future uses for the building.

The school board authorized residents to form a Main Street School Committee and set an April 2017 deadline for investigating alternative uses for the building.

At 6 p.m. on Saturday, April 8, the committee will hold a public informational meeting at the Corinth Emergency Squad Building, 101 Sherman Ave. in Corinth.

The committee hopes to provide the school board, district and community with information to guide decision making about the building’s best use, and how this can benefit Corinth. Concerns include the need for parking at sporting events, the cost of maintaining the building, liability, preserving local history and economic development.

The meeting will include the presentation, “The Irresistibility of Historic Preservation,” by committee member Steve Engelhart, executive director of the nonprofit Adirondack Architectural Heritage.

Designed by architect Newton Brezee, and built by local craftsmen, the Main Street School is one of two identical school buildings constructed in Corinth in 1908. The other is on Palmer Avenue and was purchased and renovated by a local family.

The village of Corinth’s 2015 Comprehensive Plan recognized the Main Street School as a key opportunity for redevelopment on Main Street with the potential for creative reuse alternatives.

For more information, committee Chairman Matthew Rogers may be contacted at (518) 2228504 or by email: mgrrogers@gmail.com.

IMAGE PROVIDED BY CORINTH HISTORY MUSEUM The old Main Street School in Corinth was built in 1908.

IMAGE PROVIDED The former Main Street School in Corinth has been vacant since 2006.