BUXTON – Likely dodging demolition, a century-old school is taking on new life as the headquarters for the Buxton-Hollis Historical Society, which has leased the structure from Maine School Administrative District 6.

Buxton’s two-story, wooden Bar Mills Elementary School, 100 Main St., was built in 1912. In recent years, the school district utilized the building as its headquarters, but the district’s central office relocated to the former Eliza Libby School building on the same campus in 2011.

The town of Buxton rejected accepting its Bar Mills Elementary building back from the school district that had no further use for it. So, the building appeared on a state preservation group’s endangered landmark list.

The building could have been doomed, but on Tuesday, the school district and historical society finalized a lease that preserves the landmark.

“The school system has worked closely with us over the past two years,” Jan Hill, president of the historical society, said.

Historical society representatives and SAD 6 Superintendent Frank Sherburne formalized a lease with a signing on Tuesday, and everyone was smiling.

“It’s all yours,” Sherburne said.

“It sounded like he was glad to get rid of it,” Barry Plummer, a historical society vice president representing Buxton, said with a smile, and added the society was glad to have it.

Marguerite Gardner, historical society vice president from Hollis, said the SAD 6 school board unanimously approved the lease on March 18.

The lease is $12 a year. After Tuesday’s signing, Hill handed Sherburne a check to cover four years. Hill described it as an evergreen lease that renews automatically for four years.

“We’re feeling confident that as long as we want it, it’s ours,” Hill said before the signing.

The historical society will utilize the old school for a history center, research library and a museum.

“We can display the artifacts,” Gardner said.

The rehabbed facility opens Saturday, June 15.

The historical society plans an open house from 1-4 p.m. on June 21 and 22. The society is now using temporary storage in portable classrooms at the Bar Mills school. It has already moved all its materials out from a building on Route 112, where it had space donated by Robert and Karen Yarumian for the past six years.

The society needed more space and at the Bar Mills Elementary School it has 8,000 square feet. Rehabilitation of the building got under way Thursday, with more work parties set to begin at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, May 3, 4 and 5.

Volunteers will remove some interior partitions, restoring the building to its original appearance as a school.

“Really, the building is in sound structural condition,” Plummer said.

Floors will be sanded and portable classrooms will eventually be removed. Hill said the school roof is in good condition and would not need replacement until 2024. She said the school district maintained the building well and it has new siding and new windows. The society will replace attic and cellar windows.

Hill said the historical society received a $20,000 grant from the Narragansett No. 1 Foundation for a new boiler and water heater.

“We were thrilled,” Hill said. “It made it possible for us to go ahead on this.”

The historical society and a companion group, Community Heritage Alliance of Rural Maine, have campaigned successfully to save the Bar Mills Elementary and Hanson schools in Buxton, as well as the old Hollis High School. The towns of Buxton and Hollis, both member communities of SAD 6, turned the buildings over to the district years ago. But the persistence of the two groups thwarted demolition.

SAD 6 is now housing two of its departments in the former Hanson School and the district has Hollis High School up for sale. The school district has listed it with Linda Griffin of Pleasant River Properties in Windham.

Griffin said Wednesday that potential reuses of the old Hollis High School could include professional offices, exercise or dance studios or a private school. Griffin said the price for the brick building is $164,900.

The drive to save the three old schools began three years ago with the Hanson building.

“It was a big effort,” Gardner said. “We had a lot of periods when we got very discouraged.”

“I didn’t think it was going to be possible,” Roberta Ramsdell of Hollis said about saving the buildings. “It was like a seesaw.”

“We’re delighted we’ve been on this journey together with SAD 6 that has preserved these three public school buildings for future use,” Hill said.

To house a museum, research library and its headquarters, Buxton-Hollis Historical Society on Tuesday leased the former Bar Mills Elementary School in Buxton from Maine School Administrative District 6. Historical society representatives are, from left, Barry Plummer of Buxton; Roberta Ramsdell, Hollis; Marguerite Gardner, Hollis; and Jan Hill of Buxton, society president. Plummer and Gardner are both vice presidents. Staff photo by Robert Lowell