While town officials eye the Bridgton Memorial School for its economic development potential, concerns that the site could be contaminated need to be addressed first.

The school on Depot Street currently houses the adult education program for School Administrative Districts 61 and 72, as well as other social service and educational programs, including a satellite of Southern Maine Community College and a branch of the Maine Senior College Network. In ongoing efforts to cut costs, SAD 61 officials have been looking at removing the school from its maintenance budget for several years.

Recently, questions have been raised about the safety of the site, given potential contamination from the railroad yard that was demolished to build the school.

At a meeting of selectmen, SAD 61 staff and board members and economic development committee members Tuesday, SAD 61 Superintendent Patrick Phillips said three committees have recommended that the district divest itself of the school for financial reasons.

Representatives of the Bridgton Economic Development Committee pointed to the central location of the school and suggested the town be involved with shaping the future of the site.

“This is a crucial piece of our property in our downtown,” said the chairman of the committee, Peter Lowell.

Phillips said the district wasn’t in a rush to get rid of the building, citing other priorities such as improving the high school and bus garage.

District staff members are currently in the process of turning over the Casco Memorial School to town ownership. The school previously housed the special education offices. Recent renovations at the middle school allowed sixth-graders to move there and space was freed up at Crooked River Elementary School for special education offices. Some Casco residents have talked about using the school for new town office space.

The district has experienced a steady decrease in state funding due to high property values in Casco, Bridgton, Naples and Sebago. This has led the board and officials to look for any way to reduce expenses.

“I think it’s precisely the right time to be having this conversation,” Phillips said. “We might come to a win-win place.”

In researching the building’s history, Economic and Community Development Director Alan S. Manoian found that the site may be contaminated from prior uses. Before the Bridgton High School was built there in the early 1940s, the site housed the Bridgton and Saco railroad depot and freight yard for almost 60 years.

If the site is contaminated, remediation would be necessary before future use. The first step would be to complete an assessment, something that could be funded with federal dollars, according to Town Manager Mitchell Berkowitz.

The cost of the remediation could also be funded by the federal government if the site were declared a Brownfields site, Berkowitz said.

Arthur Triglione Sr., chairman of the Board of Selectmen, asked about the potential costs of maintaining the building.

“Is that going to now be an expense for the town of Bridgton?” Triglione asked.

Andy Madura, director of transportation, facilities and food service for SAD 61, replied that the district budget includes more than $64,000 for operating expenses and the long-term capital plan forecasted $500,000-800,000 for repairs over a 12-year period. The school has completed some repairs, including managing asbestos and replacing the roof in the front section.

The four options for how to deal with the building that Lowell presented at the meeting ranged from accepting the school from SAD 61 and leasing it back to the district to accepting the school and selling it. In between were two options to remediate potential contamination and use the building for municipal purposes or offer it to private developers.

The Economic Development Committee has turned its attention to Depot Street as having big potential for further development. Just in the past year, the short, looping road has seen the construction of the Magic Lantern Theater, an expansion at Reny’s, a newly paved parking lot and a new bridge.

Some of those present at the meeting worried about what could be built on the site if the town did not take control of it. With no zoning regulations in town, Dee Miller was concerned with the type of private enterprise that could move in.

“This is really the heart of the town,” Miller said.