Town meeting voters approved spending up to $3.6 million on repairs and improvements to Memorial School on Central Avenue to relocate Hull’s municipal offices as part of the school consolidation plan. The warrant article passed with flying colors on a 86 to 13 vote.

The Memorial Middle School will become the new town hall after the grade realignment is completed at the end of this school year.

“This is the last article to be considered [at 11:30 p.m. Wednesday night] but one of the most important ones,” Town Manager Jennifer Constable said.

The current deteriorating town hall building and its systems are in need of extensive rehabilitation and are becoming unsuitable for current operations.

Relocation to the Memorial School will provide office and community space for town hall staff and residents who visit the building, as well as create an opportunity for much-needed community program and meeting space, article proponents said.

This funding will also ensure adequate heating for the police station, which will remain at its current town hall location “because it can’t be relocated” to Memorial School, according to Constable.

Voters also supported spending $150,000 for a study on a potential new combined police/fire public safety facility at this year’s town meeting.

“Town hall will occupy one floor, with an additional floor available to potentially relocate the senior center and some of the police department administrative offices,” Constable said.

Advisory Board member Chad Wolfe explained that it would be less expensive to move the town offices to Memorial School under a memorandum of agreement with the school committee than to renovate the current town hall building.

-- Carol Britton Meyer

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