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The Harpswell Heritage Land Trust will occupy a former classroom in the old West Harpswell School during the construction of an addition to its headquarters in North Harpswell.
Executive Director Matt Newberg hopes to be moved in and open to the public by the middle of August, and expects to stay through the end of December.
In January, Newberg said the addition would more than double the size of the Land Trust’s existing building. He said moving during construction will make it easier for contractors to work and will be safer for Land Trust employees, volunteers and the public.
Newberg said the Land Trust looked at several rental locations, including Brunswick options, before deciding on a room in the former school at 9 Ash Point Road. “There’s not a lot of rental space in Harpswell,” he said.
The organization also considered having employees work from home during the six months of construction, but Newberg said he and Operations Manager Kim Van Zorge decided that the public should still be able to come in and talk to them in person.
Like the permanent office, the temporary headquarters will be open so people can come to board meetings or just swing by, Newberg said.
Moving has been relatively simple, he said. The Land Trust had to move very little equipment. It has worked with its telecom provider, T-Mobile, to set up phone and internet connections. The organization will use the former classroom as a shared workspace, similar to its current community room.
The former school sold to lobsterman Scott J. Merryman in 2023 after the Harpswell Coastal Academy, a charter school that operated at the site for 10 years, closed when the state did not renew its charter. The West Harpswell School, a public elementary school that Newberg attended, closed in 2011 because of low enrollment.
Merryman said in 2023 that he planned to use the space for offices. The Land Trust is currently the building’s only tenant.
Newberg said it would be a nice byproduct of the Land Trust’s move if it gives more people a chance to come inside the old school and see how it’s being used.
He said Land Trust staff might take advantage of being closer to some of the organization’s preserves, like Stover’s Point, for lunch outings. Or use the old basketball court for a playground game: “We talked about maybe some four square,” he said.
