FALMOUTH — Town voters rejected a proposal today that would have allowed the redevelopment of the Plummer-Motz and Lunt elementary schools into a community center and public library.

The vote was 1,938 to 1,777 against the ballot issue, according to Town Clerk Ellen Planer.

The Plummer-Motz and Lunt elementary schools will soon be vacant because the town has built a new elementary school, set to open this fall.

The highly contentious referendum called for converting Motz into a community center, renovating Lunt into a new home for the Falmouth Memorial Library and fixing up Plummer to be leased to a private group or company.

Supporters said the ballot proposal was a chance of lifetime to create a “town campus” in a community that lacks a distinct town center. Opponents had a variety of concerns: whether it was an appropriate use of town funds; whether the buildings should be sold; and whether the library needed to double in size.

The $5.65 million project would have been financed with $1.5 million from the town’s reserve funds; $1.25 million to be raised by library trustees; and money to be generated from the sale of several town properties, including the current library, Pleasant Hill Fire Station and land behind the schools.