Background
The Rochester High School (RHS) building was constructed in 1974 to house a growing student population and serve as a community center and rallying point for the whole White River Valley area.
Faced with precipitous declining enrollment, RHS bade farewell to its last in-house class in 2018. The Rochester Stockbridge Unified District (RSUD) closed the RHS building during the pandemic and subsequently determined it was no longer needed for educational purposes, closing the building permanently and dispersing our students to faraway schools of their parents’ choice.
The agreement merging the Rochester and Stockbridge elementary school systems into a unified district, per Act 46, stipulated the sale price of the RHS building to the Town of Rochester at $1.00.
On November 5, 2024, Rochester voters decided, by a significant margin, to acquire the RHS building from the Rochester Stockbridge Unified District.
This legacy project presents a meaningful opportunity for the adaptive reuse of a 33,000 sq ft empty building located in the Town of Rochester’s Village Center- an important historical and cultural landmark in the valley.
VHI Members
About the Repurposing Committee
In February 2020, a volunteer led RHS Repurposing Committee formed and by late spring began to meet regularly to explore adaptive options for the building. The work has been done with consent from the Rochester Select Board and RSUD Board. The goal of this community-led effort is for the successful reintegration of a repurposed RHS building to become a viable and self-sustaining operation, continuing its legacy as a vibrant center for learning, the arts, and social engagement, serving this region and beyond.
In April of 2021, members of the committee wrote and submitted a planning grant to the Vermont Department of Housing and Community Development to fund a feasibility study of a repurposed RHS building. This grant was awarded in the amount of $50,000. The Town utilized this grant to retain the services of Fairweather Consultants of New Paltz, NY, and GBA Architects of Montpelier, VT.
This initial study, completed in July 2022, included a projected profit and loss, a master space plan, a master facility capital improvement plan, and a high level assessment of possible funding sources.
As part of the process, the “Committee” has been reconstituted as VHI INC. (Village Hub Inc), a nonprofit corporation. It is registered with the VT Sec of State and be subject to the laws of the State Of Vermont governing nonprofit corporations. Many of the initial committee members make up the new Board of Directors.