Study to look at cleanup requirements for State School property

LACONIA — Next month, environmental field work will be performed at the former State School property to better understand how much cleanup will be required to make it ready for development.

The Lakeshore Redevelopment Planning Commission is charged with finding a way to turn the 200-acre state-owned property at Meredith Center Road and North Main Street into something that could spur economic development and create jobs.

The commission is working with consultants to come up with a plan for the property to submit to state leaders. But any plan would require that the land first be cleaned of underground contaminants.

Commission member Robert Cheney said at a meeting of the panel Thursday at Lakes Region Community College that $100,000 is available through the Environmental Protection Agency for an initial examination.

A consulting company will bore into the soil to get samples to be tested. They will also dig monitoring wells and test pits.

Another $75,000 will be available from the Lakes Region Planning Commission to do further testing, filling in any information gaps from the earlier examination.

Finally, the Lakeshore Redevelopment Planning Commission has $100,000 to remove any underground equipment, such as old fuel tanks.

Cheney said he expects there will be such tanks as well as other buried materials.

“You know, in the old days, you go out in the woods of New Hampshire, and every farm had a place where they threw their old stuff, broken down barrels and things,” he said.

The property was put into use for "The New Hampshire School for the Feeble Minded" in 1901. It was later known as the Laconia State School, where people with developmental disabilities received care and instruction.

In addition to the underground investigation, the commission needs to learn more about contaminants in buildings on the site, such as asbestos and lead paint.

The first step will be a study of how much a study would cost.

In other words, the commission will spend about $20,000 to have a consultant look at the buildings just to determine how much a thorough study would cost. Building cleanup costs would be an additional expense.

While it has not arrived at a plan for the land yet, the commission reiterated support Thursday for a hybrid proposal in which there could be several different uses for the land.

Some proposals that have been suggested include a sports complex, a resort, a continuing care community for seniors and starter housing.

Some city and community leaders have pushed back against the senior community idea. They say the goal should be to bring younger people to the area as a counter to the region's aging demographic and as a way to stimulate population growth and the economy.

Also being discussed is the potential for retaining some of the land for agricultural uses, with the possibility of selling produce at an old dairy barn on the property. The acreage once supported extensive crops and livestock.

It will take years to develop the land, but the commission hopes to have a plan in place to submit to the state early next year.

“It may take 10 years. It may take 20 years,” said Commission Chairman George Bald.