GORHAM – With an eye on the overcrowded Gorham High School, the Town Council Tuesday authorized buying a nearby ranch-style house for an appraised price of $155,000.

But just how the school department would utilize the house is not yet clear, according to school officials.

The single-story house, at 55 Morrill Ave., is adjacent to Gorham High School, at 41 Morrill Ave. It is on a third of an acre surrounded by high school land.

The high school enrollment is now 863 in a building designed for 750 students.

“It is overcrowded,” James Hager, a School Committee member who heads the High School Renovation Exploratory Committee, said prior to Tuesday’s council meeting.

The committee has looked at various scenarios to relieve cramped space at the campus.

Dennis Libby, chairman of the School Committee, told the councilors Tuesday the high school property is small. “We would like to expand the footprint because of expanding enrollment,” Libby told the council. “The town is still growing,” Libby said, adding that the school is “landlocked.”

School officials have said additional high school classrooms are needed, along with a larger cafeteria, additional parking and recreational facilities. An $11.6 million renovation was completed 15 years ago, in 1996.

Matthew Robinson, chairman of the Town Council, said the Morrill Avenue property is the only piece on the street to take over. Robinson said other land available near school property off Access Road has wetland issues.

School officials haven’t determined a specific purpose, but have said the property could be utilized for a variety of uses, including offices to help ease the space crunch inside the high school.

A council approval to buy the Morrill Avenue site was necessary because the school department could not purchase the Morrill Avenue property, as the town government owns all school land.

“The school department doesn’t have any authority to purchase it,” Libby said.

The town would appropriate funds from its land acquisition reserve fund to buy the three-bedroom ranch, built in 1953. Town Councilor Noah Miner said there’s $400,000 in the account and taxes wouldn’t go up to buy the property.

Town Councilor Matt Mattingly asked whether the house site would be used for parking.

“That’s a lot of money for a handful of parking spaces,” he said.

But Libby said there’s no intention of leveling the property.

“We’re just moving on,” property owner Bethany Abramson, who answered the door at the home, said before Tuesday’s meeting. She said the family wants to stay in Gorham.

In other business, developer Hans Hansen is set to move ahead with plans for a 24-acre business park in South Gorham after the Gorham Town Council unanimously approved a contract zone.

“We welcome new business, Gorham welcomes new business,” Hansen said following the meeting.

Hansen’s site is at the intersection of County Road (Route 22) and South Street (Route 114). Hansen 10 years ago opened an agricultural building that was renovated and houses a Mercy Hospital medical facility at Mercy Gorham Crossing.

The Hansen property had been in the suburban residential district and partially in the rural district. Tuesday’s council action paves the way for a variety of uses, including convenience stores, gas stations, restaurants and professional offices.

“I’ve had numerous doctors ask about coming in,” said Hansen, who was accompanied at the meeting by his real estate broker, Joe Murphy.

Hansen said the project would create new jobs and will be an economic benefit for the area.

“I think it’s the right decision for Gorham,” Tom Ellsworth, director of Gorham Economic Development Corp., said about the council’s approval.

The area is not served by public water and sewer.

A nearby Gorham resident, Darcy Nicely of Rustic Ridge, worried about an impact on residents. “We have an aquifer that could be easily contaminated,” Nicely said.

In separate actions, the council sent five other requests from South Gorham landowners seeking contract zones similar to Hansen’s to the Planning Board for review and public hearings.