ORANGE — The town’s Economic Development & Industrial Corporation is seeking qualified developers for the potential purchase and redevelopment of the former Butterfield School at 94 South Main St.
The Request for Interest, issued last week, invites individuals and organizations to submit conceptual proposals for the 2.21-acre site, which includes the 37,533-square-foot former school building built in 1878. The local development organization’s stated primary goal is to transform the property in a way that generates sustainable tax revenues, supports downtown revitalization efforts and creates much-needed housing in town.
Senior housing is a potential reuse. Non-housing proposals, including those that envision a portion of the building space becoming a senior center, will also be considered based on scope and feasibility.
“I think the key point is we haven’t determined the reuse of the building yet,” said Tom Sexton, who chairs the Orange Economic Development & Industrial Corporation. “There’s this feasibility done by SSV Architects [in Boston]. It kind of determined there were three potential reuses — town hall or offices, a senior center or senior housing. So we kind of started there and talked to a number of planning agencies. And we kind of got the same feedback. It seems the path we’re being led down is toward housing.”
Sexton said there is a great deal of funding available for housing — especially senior housing — but virtually no money for municipal purposes, such as town offices.
“We have to explore all these channels,” he said.
Sexton mentioned the Orange EDIC is following the example of its Athol counterpart, which has renovated two former schools.
“The Athol EDIC did what we’re trying to do,” he said.
Voters at the 2025 Annual Town Meeting chose overwhelmingly to authorize the Selectboard to convey the Butterfield property to the OEDIC “for the purpose of facilitating beneficial reuse and redevelopment.” The OEDIC is a quasi-public entity managed by a seven-member board of directors appointed by the Selectboard.
At a September 2023 public meeting about the site, June Taylor took to the microphone with younger sister Amber Lunny to ask what might happen to the memorial plaque on the site that was dedicated to their sister Sheila Lunny, who died as a child in 1987.
“That’s our biggest concern,” Taylor said.
Sexton told the Greenfield Recorder that the memorial will be preserved and prominently featured on the property no matter what the building is used for.
The former Butterfield School closed in 2015 due to declining enrollment and to help alleviate the town’s financial woes. The building was then used by various community groups until 2020. The site consists of four contiguous parcels.
The inquiring date is Friday, Feb. 20, and the submission deadline is Friday, Feb. 27. A site tour is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 2.
Interested parties can obtain the full Request for Interest package, free of charge, by visiting tinyurl.com/OrangeButterfield and registering.