WINDHAM – “The high school has outgrown its present quarters.”

Town leaders at the March 1910 town meeting heard this declaration from the Windham School Committee and added an item to the town meeting agenda: “To see if the town would purchase a lot at or near Windham Center to erect, furnish and equip a modern high school building.”

Voters, only men at that time in history, approved $2,000 for the project with the remaining amount, $6,000, borrowed from Windham residents Charles M. Stuart and Elsie Stuart. Stuart owned a horse-trotting track at Windham Hill. He was fully repaid within five years. The wood-framed structure was built between March and November, 1910, under the supervision of the selectmen.

On Nov. 28, 1910, the new high school was dedicated. The newspaper headline, “New Building for Free High School,” announced the dedication, which included music and short speeches from selectmen, the state superintendent of schools and former and present teachers. The term “free” indicated this was a public school and students did not have to pay tuition.

High School

For 16 years, some specific high school classes (including astronomy) were taught in some of the area schools and at the brick town house, now the home of Windham Historical Society. That 40-foot-by-50-foot building was divided into two large rooms – one for municipal officers and the school committee and the other room for school.

The new school started with two teachers, including the superintendent, and 50 students in grades 10 through 12 were taught English, algebra, Latin, ancient history, geography, agriculture, soil study, farm crops and mechanics, botany, geometry, plant and animal husbandry, bookkeeping, physics, French, chemistry, and common arithmetic.

Within a year of the school’s opening, citizens voted to use money received from the sale of hay and apples from the “High School lot” to install electric lights in the high school with students to pay annually for the lighting. That same year, it was voted to build a stable at the school where students could keep their horses during the school day. It cost $2 per school term to use a stall.

Graduation ceremonies were held at Windham Hill Church in those days. After the class of 1911 graduated, they immediately organized the Windham High School Alumni Association, a group which to this day meets and holds a reunion every year. One of the first orders of business for this group in 1911 was to “build a gym.” Although they never could finance that project, a gymnasium was added in 1925.

High School/Community Center

The addition of a gymnasium was the beginning of Windham’s community center. Along with basketball, the gym was where the annual town meeting was held. Voting took place here. High school events including dances, the annual junior prom and high school graduation drew large crowds. A stage at one side of the gym was home to plays, and eventually the community theater met here. In the 1940s, during war time, the grounds outside the building became the collection spot for piles of metal and rubber, used in the war effort. High school students at that time couldn’t leave the school grounds during the school day, but hours were spent in the gym, dancing to the juke box sounds.

More and more people moved to Windham and many of the previous district schools were closed. Consolidation was under way in the school system. The increase in population created the need for more school space and in 1957 a multi-room addition for kindergarten was built on the front of the high school. This addition was named for Fred Aikins, who had served as school superintendent from 1926 to 1955.

High school classes were held in the main part of the building until 1964 when a new school on Route 202 was opened. The former high school became the junior high school, until the structure was condemned in 1977, creating another crisis in school space.

Community Center/Town Hall

Town leaders knew the value of this old building and in 1978 secured a $494,000 grant from the Federal Economic Development Administration and the building was renovated and turned into a Community Center containing a kitchen, nine rooms and of course, the gym.

Government in Windham had changed from selectmen who held one annual town meeting and many Saturday sessions at the old brick town house, to the town manager/town council form of government.

The new Community Center had a Council Room and this was where the town council and school committee met. A raised dais at one end held a public address system. All town committees would hold meetings here. Many community groups made plans to use the new Community Center.

Windham-Raymond Senior Citizens used the gym and its adjacent kitchen three times a week for a meals program. Exercise classes, cribbage games and other activities were also planned.

The Community Center became the permanent home for Windham Community Theatre. Storage space was provided above the kitchen, in the former balcony space, for props and costumes. Small areas on either side of the existing stage would serve as dressing rooms. The gym would be used for dress rehearsals and performances. Early rehearsals would be scheduled in one of the other rooms.

Locker rooms had been roughed out in the basement but no target date was set for completion.

The Arts and Crafts Room, located on the second floor, was initially designed with cupboards and sinks. These were actually cut from the budget, but being the only room not carpeted, it was still planned to be used for arts and crafts. The other rooms would be used for meeting rooms.

The first floor was entirely taken up by the gym and lobby. An elevator was installed to reach the second and third floors.

Groups signing up to use the Community Center included Boy Scouts, Chamber of Commerce, Crossroads Garden Club, Nature Study Club, Lioness, Jaycees, Channel 12 and others.

The Community Center was short lived.

Town Hall

By 1980, Windham’s population exceeded 11,000, an increase of more than 9,000 since the building was originally constructed. All municipal offices including the superintendent’s office, were housed in the brick town house (currently the historical society), built in 1833. As the town grew, so did the need for more municipal workers and the town house was very crowded.

In the early 1980s, it was decided to move the municipal offices into the Community Center, and the school administration offices into the Hanson House (which at the turn of the century had been a boarding home for teachers, and was the property of the town.)

Senior citizens moved from the gym to the Aikins Annex when the kindergarten moved over to the new primary school. Other community groups had to find new places to hold meetings, as all the space in the original part of the building was used for municipal offices.

By 1983, the original town house, built in 1833, was turned over to the Windham Historical Society.

There was still talk around town about a Community Center, but more dire need was for municipal office space.

Population growth and demand for municipal services made renovations to the town offices necessary. In 2006-2007, these renovations took place. The senior citizens departed and now their noon meals are served at one of the senior living facilities. Town offices were moved to the gym and room dividers filled the old basketball court. Technology for the new century was built into the nearly 100-year-old structure. The annex was renovated first, followed by the central part of the building.

Memories of the past remain. The gym looks pretty much the same. The stage is still used for plays – but graduation has long since moved to another, much larger venue and sometimes in a different town.

It is the memories and ghosts of the past champion teams, the prize winning speaking contests, the jitterbuggers of the 50s and the (sometimes) vocal town meetings that keep the building alive.

Happy 100th birthday to Windham High School – Community Center – Town Hall. We await the next evolution.

Town employees stand in front of Windham Town Hall, which marks its 100th anniversary on Sunday, Nov. 28. The building, which has taken on many forms over the years, was first erected in 1910 as a high school. The structure then served as a community center and town hall. (Photo by Rich Obrey)An early 20th-century shot of the Windham Town Hall, then built as the high school.