Westport's old high school, which apart from housing the Westport Community School's offices has lain vacant for several years, is worth $11 million on the open market, an appraiser recently reported to the town.

Christopher Bowler, an appraiser and advisor for LandVest out of Boston, appraised the building and the 62 acres on which it sits for the Town of Westport last month. Westport is considering possible future uses for the school, and the select board, town administrator James Hartnett and the town's Long Term Building Re-Use Committee asked for the appraisal, as well as a re-use study, to help the town determine its best course of action.

The school itself covers 155,000 square feet of space and was built and added on to between 1950, 1958 and 1972. The town purchased the 62 acroes on which it sits in 1948, and acquired more land there in 1975. However, just 27 of the acres are usable, Bowler wrote in his report. He wrote that of all the possible uses for the property, keeping it as is — as a school — might make the most sense as demolition, redevelopment and other costs associated with other uses would be higher.

"This leaves the retention of the building 'as is' as the likely highest and best use of the property," he wrote. "Is there demand for school properties in the market? The answer is 'yes.'"

If the property is sold, "the likely buyer ... will be a regional college or university, or nonprofit user, or perhaps a regional charter school.

Costs to retain

The report coincides with another recently prepared for the town, which concludes that renovating the old high school for re-use by Westport's municipal offices, senior center and school administration would cost just over $29 million, while renovating the town's current offices would cost about $18 million.

Matthew Littell of Utile Architects said last month that while the costs aren't certain, "they're pretty solid overall numbers for planning purposes" as Westport officials study what they should do about their aging municipal offices, senior center and the mostly vacant school.

Though the cost to renovate the old school would be more than 50 percent higher than renovating current offices, the town would end up with more space for offices and services, and an additional 8,700 square feet of "overflow program spaces" would be created within the old school.

Overall, Littell said, renovating existing municipal offices and the senior center would cost roughly $520 per square foot, while transforming the old high school would cost $497.85 per square foot.

Under the study, the auditorium, cafeteria and some other unusued areas would be demolished, as "there's not enough programs to fill any of it," Littell said. "There was just too much room (so) that seemed like the most logical thing to do."

Town gets input

Earlier this year, the town published an RFI seeking input from the public on what should be done with the property. Among the proposals:

• Westport's non-profit food pantry wants to move its operation, currently housed in the Westport Grange basement, to the old school.

• Recreation Director Dana Stewart wrote that the high school gym would be a welcome addition to her facilities and could host fitness classes, sports, camps, children's programs, special events and gym rentals.

• Westport's affordable housing trust proposed developing the school into mixed-income housing, while preserving existing sports fields and open space. Officials wrote that the site could support 55 to 110 apartment units, plus 12 to 16 townhouses.

• Main Road resident Gay Gillespie said it makes sense from a planning perspective to keep the school for the town and school offices, and relocate the town's administration to the property.