Windham voters will answer two local questions on Tuesday, Nov. 3. On paper they look unrelated. One is a bond of up to $19.5 million to turn Windham Middle School into a community center. The other is a charter amendment that changes how the municipal budget gets approved. Both would move town business out of a place that no longer fits it.
For the bond, that place is a building. Town offices, the Windham Public Library, Parks and Recreation, Social Services and the food pantry would all move to an 80,000-square-foot school on the Gray Road side of town. For the charter amendment, that place is a room: the Saturday Annual Town Meeting in June, where the budget is now debated and passed.
| Question on the community center | Question on the charter | |
|---|---|---|
| What it would change | Buy Windham Middle School for $1 and turn it into a community center with town offices and the library | Replace the June town meeting with a secret-ballot budget vote on Maine Primary Day |
| Key figure | Up to $19.5 million in bonds, with up to $2 million from fund balance to reduce borrowing | Spending that needs voter approval outside the budget would rise from $25,000 to $500,000 |
| When it would take effect | The school is vacated in fall 2027 | The second Tuesday in June, the same day as the RSU 14 budget vote |
The school's future was mostly decided in 2023
In November 2023, a plurality of voters in RSU 14, the district that covers Windham and Raymond, approved the new Windham Raymond Middle School. The total budget is about $171.5 million. The state's Major Capital Construction Program pays $131.7 million of it, and residents of the two towns cover the remaining $39.8 million.
That state money came with a condition. As The Windham Eagle reported on Sept. 18, RSU 14 voters agreed the existing school could never be used as a school again. The state had already paid for major repairs there over the decades, and the building has no fire suppression system.
The building opened in 1974 for 483 students. It now holds about 650, and some sixth graders take classes next door at Field Allen School, which dates to 1949. WGME reported in August that the new school was on track to open the following August. That means students leave the old building in 2027 no matter how the Nov. 3 vote goes.
So the bond question is not about keeping the school open. It asks whether the town should take over a large, structurally sound building for $1 once it is empty in fall 2027 and spend up to $19.5 million fitting it out for town use. Eligible costs include design, engineering, site preparation, renovation and furnishings.
What would move under one roof
A 20-member Middle School Repurpose Advisory Committee spent two years on the plan, working with an architect and a design team. Members toured the Westbrook and Gorham community centers, two other towns that turned old schools into civic buildings. Great Falls Construction also advised the committee. The same firm helped expand Windham's Public Safety Building in 2022.
The committee found the building's basic structure sound. It concluded that several town services could move there for a fraction of what it would cost to renovate or replace the buildings they use now. The Aug. 14 Windham Eagle story lists what would move:
- Town Hall offices
- Parks and Recreation
- Social Services, including the Windham Food Pantry
- The clothing and medical closets
- The Windham Public Library
For most households, the change would show up at the Town Clerk's counter. The plan puts the clerk on the first floor for everyday business: car and boat registrations, dog licenses, hunting and fishing licenses, voter registration, property tax payments, notary service and marriage licenses. It also redesigns the entrance from Route 202, which is Gray Road.
Some of the current space is already strained. Town Manager Robert Burns told the Eagle that both Social Services and the library need more room. The Medical Loan Closet moved temporarily to the East Windham Fire Station last fall after structural problems with its building near the library on Windham Center Road.
The plan also adds pickleball courts and redoes the sidewalks and fencing on the property. It does not include a community pool. The Eagle reported that a pool could be considered in a later phase. The committee also went back to the town's August 2019 engagement study, which called for flexible spaces that serve all ages. It found the building could fit those spaces inside the current structure or around the site.
The council voted unanimously to send the question to voters. Councilor Katie Cook added an amendment so the council formally recommends approval. In the same Eagle story, Burns called the project cost-effective over the long run. Councilor Maggie Terry noted that maintaining town buildings keeps getting more expensive and said, "This is an opportunity for us we'll never see at this value again."
The other thing being retired is a Saturday meeting
The second question applies the same logic to a process. The charter amendment would end the Annual Town Meeting, held on a Saturday in June, where residents now debate and vote on the municipal budget. The budget would go to a secret-ballot vote on Maine Primary Day, the second Tuesday in June. That is the same day Windham voters already decide the RSU 14 school budget.
The case for the change rests on turnout. Windham adopted its charter and council form of government in 1975. Over the past two years, about 150 residents have attended the town meeting, out of more than 12,000 registered voters.
The amendment also raises the threshold for spending outside the budget that needs voter approval, from $25,000 to $500,000. Councilors say the new process would let them offer either one up-or-down budget vote or separate votes by department.
Council Vice Chair Bill Reiner told The Windham Eagle that the town meeting's "method has outlived its usefulness." He said the $500,000 limit is in line with surrounding towns and that the current $25,000 cap "no longer provides for emergency operations or acquisitions in a meaningful way." Council Chair Mark Morrison pointed to this year's low town meeting attendance as the reason for the change. The Eagle also reported the opposing view: residents who oppose the amendment say voters are being asked to decide without full information, on complex legal language they may not fully understand.
The town has made a deal like this before, at Manchester School
The middle school proposal follows a recent example of Windham using school property for town infrastructure. The North Windham wastewater treatment plant started running on Aug. 19 on the grounds of Manchester School. In exchange for the site, the town built four new youth playing fields at the school. RSU 14 can also move Windham High School's wastewater treatment to the new plant.
That $48 million project now handles wastewater from Shaw's Plaza, Reny's, Portland Pie, Hannaford, Windham Mall and Manchester School. The town plans to connect more North Windham businesses this fall. According to The Windham Eagle's Sept. 4 report, the new Windham Raymond Middle School will connect to the plant when it opens.
The timing matters for daily routines because several projects land in the same stretch. The Route 302 project will redesign about 9,000 feet of Route 302 between River Road and White's Bridge Road, add three connector roads behind the commercial center, and build 11,700 feet of multi-use paths. The town's project sheet puts the start of construction in the same fall the old middle school is vacated.
- Nov. 3, 2026: Town vote on the charter amendment and the community center bond
- August 2027: Windham Raymond Middle School expected to open
- Fall 2027: RSU 14 vacates the current middle school
- October 2027: Route 302 construction start listed on the town's project sheet
- June 2030: Route 302 completion listed on the same sheet
The Route 302 project costs $31.25 million in total. A 2023 federal RAISE grant covers $25 million, and MaineDOT and the town split the $6.25 million match equally. That overlap may matter to anyone who drives through North Windham to reach the services that would move to the Gray Road site. For more on how the Route 302 corridor is changing, see our look at The Plaza on Roosevelt Trail.
Questions to ask before Nov. 3
The bond question sets a borrowing limit of up to $19.5 million. Before voting, residents may want answers to a few practical questions from the Town Clerk or a councilor:
- What would the bond mean for a typical property tax bill, and how many years would repayment run?
- What would happen to the current library building and the current Town Hall offices if the measure passes?
- What would happen to the middle school building if the measure fails?
- When would the community center open after RSU 14 leaves in fall 2027?
The town calendar shows a Planning Board meeting on Oct. 26 and a Town Council meeting on Oct. 27, both at Town Hall. Polling locations, hours and absentee ballot details are on the Town of Windham elections page.
If you're trying to fit the 2027 changes into your own plans, or want to know how that timeline might affect a move within or out of town, Amy Foley and the Scoville Foley Team can walk you through what's coming in Windham. Contact us.
