ROYALSTON – On Thursday morning, members of the Building Committee got a tour of the Raymond Building to see how the extensive renovation work is progressing.
Once home to the Raymond School, the building is being transformed into office space for a number of town departments. Students from the Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School are doing much of the electrical and plumbing work, while also doing some of the interior renovations.
Work to repurpose the building was made possible by a $699,000 Proposition 2 ½ debt exclusion approved by Royalston voters in 2024. In addition, said Public Works Director Jaret Thiem, another $42,000 in Community Preservation funds was allocated for this project. Thiem is the project manager for the undertaking.
“That money is going to be used to replicate the stairway on the right side of the building,” he said. “It will look the same, while incorporating the handicap ramp. So, it will restore the look of the right-hand side while making it ADA-compliant.”
Thiem credited some local residents for helping with the renovations. Dana Perkins, a plumber and member of the Building Committee, assisted with some of the initial plumbing work. Electrician Dick Brown helped with the power hookup, and committee member Michael Adams did the design work for the interior.
Last year, the town received a Green Communities grant of $185,000 for the installation of a new HVAC system. That work is being overseen by RISE Engineering of Springfield.
“We don’t really have a hard move-in date because it was unknown how long it would take Monty Tech to do the electrical work, because they’re only there every other week,” Thiem said, noting the students have the summer off, but will be back in the fall. “But we’re hopeful we’ll be in before the end of this year. As of right now, that looks realistic.”
The Raymond School was constructed by the Depression-era Works Progress Administration in 1939 and sits within the town’s Historic District. As such, the Royalston Historic District Commission must approve any alterations to the exterior of the building to ensure its appearance remains loyal to the time period. This includes installation of a handicap ramp, outside lighting, and work being done on windows.
In 2020, the chimney and asbestos shingles were removed and the roof replaced. In 2019, improvements were made to the drainage system and an old boiler was removed.