Developers interested in the old Westport High School have one more week to submit letters of interest to the town, as the town looks to the next step in finding a use for the vacant property at 19 Main Road.

A nine-page "RFI: request for interest, ideas and innovation" was released by Town Administrator James Hartnett late last month, and responses are due by Thursday, March 10. Hartnett had not received any responses as of last Friday (he is out of the office this week), but said that normally responses usually come in at the last minute.

In addition, a site visit to the 62-acre property on Thursday, Feb. 17 saw no prospective developers take part.

The RFI will not determine the property's fate, but was put out to gauge interest in the old high school, which was made obsolete by the construction of a new middle high school and currently houses the offices of Westport Schools.

In the fall of 2020, Westport's Long Term Building Committee held several online meetings and solicited public input on what they think should happen to the building. According to the RFI, "community feedback demonstrated that potential future uses ... included senior housing, recreation, an art center, open space protection, municipal offices and services, leasing the building but keeping the gymnasium and athletic fields for community use," as well as other uses including single and multi-family housing."

"The goal of this RFI is to build off of the brainstorming session by educating and informing the Board of Selectmen and town administrator as to the interest in site redevelopment or reuse and to guide them in their decision as to the type of feasible redevelopment that would occur."

What's next?

Following the March 10 deadline, an evaluation committee comprised of Hartnett, the town planner (office currently vacant), select board chairwoman Shana Shufelt and a member of the building committee will begin reviewing submissions, and may share them with other boards. Depending on how many proposals are submitted, "the objective is to select between three and five concept plans to assist the town in preparing an RFP (Request for Proposals)."

The concepts will then be brought before the public in an open forum, where town officials will take feedback and determine the next step. Ideally, the submissions will help the town:

n Determine feasible reuse projects that meet community needs and desires;

n Help gauge the type and extent of interest in development;

n And provide opportunities for developers to identify "other entities that may be interested in participating as tenants or co-developers in a possible joint venture."