Lebanon charter school gets USDA loan for purchase of downtown building
Money will be used to acquire, renovate 10,000-square-foot structure
Ledyard Charter School, an alternative high school in Lebanon, has received a $1.07 million loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture toward the purchase and renovation of 39 Hanover St., a roughly 10,000-square-foot structure at the end of the Lebanon Mall in downtown Lebanon.
The facility is annexed to the Lebanon Mall in downtown Lebanon – which itself is undergoing the final phases of a $2.5 million renovation. After the school renovation is completed it will have direct access to a 300-foot bicycle and pedestrian tunnel underneath the mall.
The school has held classes in the building for the last five years.
The loan is a “terrific deal” for Ledyard, which will pay an interest rate of 2.2% over 35 years, Mike Harris, chair of the school’s board of trustees told the Valley News.
Work will include construction of two new ADA-compliant bathrooms and a renovated entrance. In addition, Outside, the building’s brickwork will be redone and a new stairwell to better meet fire safety guidelines will be added.
Also, the building’s second-floor former retail space will be divided into two areas, one of about 2,000 square feet for a future tenant with frontage on the Lebanon Mall, the rest will be set aside for a future 7th– and 8th-grade program.
The construction effort also has included a $250,000 contribution from a community fund-raising effort and financing from Claremont Saving Bank.
