ALFRED —  On Tuesday, voters  will elect a selectman and decide whether to bond $1.6 million as part of the overall $1.9 million projected cost to purchase and renovate the old county jail as a Town Hall. Voting will be from 8 a.m.to 8 p.m. at Conant Chapel, adjacent to Town Hall on Saco Road.

The three-person selectman’s board voted earlier this year to put the question to the voters, citing a lack of space at the current Town Hall and no room for expansion. A study several years ago suggested the town could gain more space using the second story of the current Town Hall, but added that it would be only a temporary measure.

As to the election, incumbent Anthony Palminteri is challenged by Thomas Stonehouse for a three-year term. David Galbraith is unopposed for a three-year term as RSU 57  director as is Jonathan Lord for road commissioner, and Dominique Zulueta and Thomas Stonehouse as directors of Parsons Memorial Library.

The old York County Jail, at 8 Court St., has been mostly vacant since it was closed in the 1970s. It was sold by York County commissioners to Thomas Kaplan of Portland in 2000, and over the years portions of the structure have had various tenants.

About $300,000 of the $1.9 million price tag would come from money the town received when it sold several properties it had acquired over the years, plus money earned from selling the timber from one of the parcels.

Voters will be asked to bond the remaining $1.6 million of the total project price tag. Interest on the bond would is $475,000, based on an estimated 2.8 percent interest rate over 20 years.

Built into the cost of renovations are repairing a leak near the chimney and in one slate. Selectmen have said both the foundation and the slate roof of the old jail have been inspected and found to be in good condition.

The current Alfred Town Hall was built in 1862. The old county jail was built in 1869. If the bond passes, the town would gut the interior of the old jail building to the two-foot exterior walls and create municipal offices and meeting rooms inside the 14,000-square-foot structure.

Selectmen and town employees say there is a general lack of meeting space in the current Town Hall — the meeting room can accommodate just 16 people — offices are tiny, computer servers are in the vault, and items are stored in the boiler room next to the boiler because there is no other space. They point out that large meetings — and elections— must be held next door, at the chapel owned by Alfred Congregational Church.

Some have concerns whether purchasing the old jail is a good idea. At a December informational meeting, some residents wondered if the old jail, at 14,000 square feet, was more building than the 3,000 population town with a part-time government needs.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or twells@journaltribune.com.