ORANGE — The Orange Economic Development & Industrial Corporation opened up the former Butterfield School on Monday, allowing potential buyers and developers to get a closer look at the two-story, 37,533-square-foot facility.
Tom Sexton, who chairs the Orange Economic Development & Industrial Corporation, led the scheduled site tour, providing exclusive access and answering questions in the vacant structure at 94 South Main St.
“It went great,” Sexton said in an interview after the tour. “I think we got some solid feedback and should have a lot more in a month or so when we see the [Request for Interest] responses.”
Monday’s guests consisted of Peter Webster, of Austin Design Cooperative in Brattleboro, Vermont; Marc Dohan, executive director of NewVue Communities; and Jen Hale, of Rural Development Inc.
While several spaces are used for storage, much of the building’s interior looks as it likely did when declining enrollment and the town’s financial issues forced its closure in 2015. The school was built in 1878.
There is some visible water intrusion, with flaky or peeling paint on some walls, and some relics of the building’s past use remain. Classrooms are still equipped with wall-mounted pencil sharpeners and at least one appears to have a lesson still written on a dry erase board. One in a separate classroom has a handwritten schedule of a half-day.
A typical classroom in the former Butterfield School on South Main Street in Orange. 
Today’s schedule from a white board in the former Butterfield School on South Main Street in Orange. 
An old and older furnace in the basement of the former Butterfield School on South Main Street in Orange. 
A hallway in the former Butterfield School on South Main Street in Orange. 
Interested parties tour the auditorium in the former Butterfield School on South Main Street in Orange. 
The auditorium in the former Butterfield School on South Main Street in Orange. 
A box of recorders in the former Butterfield School on South Main Street in Orange. 
A fourth grade class photo from 1982 in the office of the former Butterfield School on South Main Street in Orange.
The floor of what appears to have been an administrator’s office has framed photos of classes from various years, including 1991, 1997 and 2012. The office also contains an old policy manual, a fiscal year 2014 budget presentation form and a trophy awarded to the “Butterfield School Pillo Polo Champions.”
A portrait of President George Washington sits against some lockers in a hallway, not far from a tabletop globe old enough to include the former USSR and former Yugoslavia. Various trophies fill a case above the doors of the gymnasium, and the adjoining kitchen still has old equipment, as well as containers of ground cinnamon, ground paprika and ground thyme perched on a counter.
The Bessie M. Davis Auditorium, with a seating capacity of 400, still has a piano and remnants of theatrical productions, as well as books and sheet music in a back room. The basement consists of the usual equipment, as well as books and office supplies in storage.
Sexton said the plan is to raffle off the trinkets and knick-knacks still inside the building.
The Request for Interest that was issued by the Orange Economic Development & Industrial Corporation last week invites individuals and organizations to submit conceptual redevelopment proposals for the 2.21-acre site. The local development organization’s stated primary goal is to transform the property in a way that generates sustainable tax revenue, supports downtown revitalization efforts and creates much-needed housing in town.
Senior housing is a potential reuse. Non-housing proposals, including those that envision a portion of the building becoming a senior center, will also be considered based on scope and feasibility.
Sexton has previously said there is a great deal of funding available for housing — especially senior housing — but virtually no money for municipal purposes, such as town offices.
“We have to explore all these channels,” he said last week.
Voters at the 2025 Annual Town Meeting opted overwhelmingly to authorize the Selectboard to convey the former Butterfield School property to the Orange Economic Development & Industrial Corporation “for the purpose of facilitating beneficial reuse and redevelopment.” The OEDIC is a quasi-public entity managed by a seven-member board of directors appointed by the Selectboard.
At a September 2023 public meeting about the site, June Taylor took to the microphone with younger sister Amber Lunny to ask what might happen to the memorial plaque on the site that was dedicated to their sister, Sheila Lunny, who died as a child in 1987. Sexton has said the memorial will be preserved and prominently featured on the property, no matter what the building is used for.
The inquiring date for interested buyers and developers is Friday, Feb. 20, and the submission deadline is Friday, Feb. 27. Interested parties can obtain the full Request for Interest package, free of charge, by visiting tinyurl.com/OrangeButterfield and registering.