BETHEL — Townspeople have voted against funding an engineering study that would determine whether the former Ethel Bisbee School building at the end of Philbrick Street is structurally sound.

The school, built in 1925 and expanded in 1947, was given to the town by SAD 44 in 2014. Before giving it to the town, SAD 44 used the building as the superintendent’s office and later as cold storage.

In December 2015, Christi Mitchell of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission toured the building with town officials and recommended that the town fix it and use it.

She said the building would be eligible for consideration by the National Register of Historic Places.

During Bethel’s annual town meeting Wednesday, Town Manager Christine Landes said $1,500 for a proposed engineering study of the Ethel Bisbee School building was included in an article to raise and appropriate $29,815 for the operation of the Cole Block building.

“There was nowhere else to put the money for the study, so we included it in this article,” Landes said.

The Cole Block building houses the Town Office.

Resident Ron Savage asked Landes, “Do the taxpayers really want to see (the Ethel Bisbee School building) fixed up? Do we really need another building in town? That building should be razed and the land should be sold. Sell the land and put it back on the tax roll. That’s just my opinion.”

Others, including Rick Whitney, agreed with Savage.

“Several years ago, SAD 44 left that building and moved their superintendent’s office,” Whitney said, “and when they gave it to us, they said the building wasn’t any good. I agree with Ron. We should be trying to do something with that land.”

Other residents, however, vehemently disagreed.

Stan Howe, executive director emeritus of the Bethel Historical Society, said, “We have a very important town, and lots of historical buildings.”

He added, “The idea was to find a developer who would be willing to buy that building, fix it up, and find a useful purpose for it. It’s an important part of our heritage. If we start tearing down all of our historical buildings without any sort of study to see whether they can be salvaged, it’s not going to be a place worth spending any time in.”

He reminded residents that “our tax base is built on people coming here and staying for the historical atmosphere,” and “if we keep tearing down our buildings, it’s going to be like Route 26, with a few convenience stores, gas stations and fast-food restaurants.”

Howe said that he wasn’t trying to claim that the Ethel Bisbee School was salvageable, but he wanted the town to rely on an informed opinion before making a decision about what to do with it.

Resident Jarrod Crockett asked Landes if the engineering survey was a request from the Maine Historic Preservation Commission, or if it was from an appraiser attempting to determine fair market value for the building.

Landes replied that the preservation commission suggested it after Mitchell toured the building in December 2015.

“I think the fundamental question is whether we’re going to take any revenue we get from the Ethel Bisbee School building and property and use it to fix up another one of our ongoing preservation projects, like the Cole Block building, or if we’re going to take on another preservation project and do a halfway job,” Crockett said, adding that he supported removing the funding for the engineering study.

After the amendment was approved, residents voted to approve the Cole Block budget, minus the funds for the Ethel Bisbee School engineering study.

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