Group Will Consider Reuse Plan for Green School

By Jane Lopes, Editor, Middleboro Gazette

If you have driven by the Green School and thought, "What a neat place for ..." there is a committee waiting to hear from you.

The 19th century former schoolhouse, which sits on what was the town green in colonial days, has been renovated by a group of volunteers with donations from the public, many of them local residents and former residents who attended the one-room schoolhouse before it was closed in the 1990s.  The school was threatened with demolition, in part because of a heating oil leak, but the volunteer group stepped forward to save it.

Meeting with the selectmen earlier this month, Town Moderator Wayne Perkins said the building is "tight to the weather."  Structural work has been done, a new roof has been installed, and the building has been painted.  It needs windows and a main door, Mr. Perkins said, as well as interior renovations.

"Some electrical work has been donated, and others are waiting to come forward," Mr. Perkins told the selectmen.

He said the informal committee including himself and former selectmen Lincoln Andrews, Bruce Atwood and Neil Rosenthal is regrouping in an effort to bring the renovations to a conclusion and help find the best reuse for the building.  He asked the selectmen to appoint a representative to the committee and said the School Committee will also be asked to participate, since the building is still under the School Department's control.

The selectmen appointed Selectman Allin Frawley, who works in construction and who volunteered for the job, to serve on the committee.

Built in 1871, the Green School sits on the green across from the First Congregational Church.  The Sproat Tavern, which entertained such celebrities as Benjamin Franklin in colonial times, once stood between the school site and the church.  Colonial militia trained on the green at a time when the area was considered the center of town.