POLAND — A group of more than a dozen people asked selectmen Tuesday night that the McConaghy property be turned into a senior center for Mechanic Falls, Minot and Poland residents.

Pat Nash, a director of Lifesprings Inc., told selectmen that her group would like to repair the building and turn the ground floor into a senior center.

“It’s an ideal location for a center,” Nash said.

The town acquired the McConaghy property, the large red house between the Town Hall and Ricker Memorial Library, nearly a year ago. The move gave the town control of all the frontage along Route 26 from the library to the Town Office.

Following a series of public meetings, selectmen determined this past July that it would be best to sell the building to someone who would move it so the town could create a unified municipal center.

Selectmen enlisted the assistance of a real estate agent but have received no offers.

Linda Laskey, president emeritus of Lifesprings, acknowledged that her group was “a bit tardy in coming to this board at this point. We’d like your help with support for our ideas for the property, you know the process to take.”

Dr. Fred Jordan, Lifesprings vice president, told selectmen the group had only recently acquired an official designation as a nonprofit organization, but was now about to begin a serious campaign to raise money.

“We have a talented group of volunteers who can help fix the building up,” he said.

Acting Town Manager Mark Bosse said the building will require a fair amount of work. He said thieves recently vandalized the building, destroying the heating system in their plundering of copper tubing.

Selectman Walter Gallagher noted that the process has been lengthy and that in the end, a committee has recommended moving the building.

This idea of turning the building into a senior center is the first to come to selectmen, Gallagher said. “We’ll listen to all options. This is a good concept,” he said.

Selectman James Walker Jr. said that while he was supportive of the proposal, the decision to turn the property into a senior center would need approval of the Poland voters.

The group was advised that the best way to proceed is to to formally petition the board to prepare a warrant article for the annual town meeting in April seeking voter approval to use the building as a senior center.

Administrative Assistant Nikki Pratt said the group should contact Town Clerk Judy Akers for help with the petition’s wording, as well as for determining the number of signatures required and the deadline for submission.

In other business, selectmen:

* Awarded the contract to harvest limber from the Hewey lot to Thomas Richards of Oxford, with a timber value estimate of $15,280.

* Named Erland Torrrey as a representative to the RSU 16 budget committee, with Michelle Arsenault as alternate.

* Declared the building at 329 North Raymond Road “dangerous”  and set a March 4 public hearing on possible demolition.

* Accepted the Estes Bog Dam emergency action plan, as prepared by Wayne Cotterly.