Catholic Officials See Potential at Rumford Elementary School

Christ the King Parish, the collection of Catholic churches on the western side of Concord, will hold meetings next week to discuss the future of the churches and St. John Regional School. Part of that future might be buying Rumford Elementary School from the Concord School District and moving Catholic school there. 

In an informational mailer sent out to parishioners, officials outlined the stress and expense of maintaining a number of buildings in the city as well as the need to expand education opportunities for students interested in being taught in a religious setting. 

“After much discussion, prayer and reflection we believe that the solution to our needs can be found in the development of the St. John campus along with the acquisition of Rumford School,” the letter stated.

The basic plan, while not completely publicly released, is to relocate St. John school, currently located on South State Street, to the Rumford building, which is about two blocks away on Thorndike Street.

This change would also allow church officials to fully develop the St. John campus for worship and ministry activities. Barry Hall, John Paul II activity center, and the Vincent de Paul buildings would be torn down. This would provide more room for the construction of a gymnasium and expansion added on to St. John Evangelist Church. The church would also be decommissioned and re-consecrated after the renovation and named Christ the King Church. 

The church would also sell Sacred Heart and St. Peter's churches in order to lower operating costs and expenses. 

"If we do nothing, we will simply run out of money within two to three years," the mailer stated. 

The potential to buy Rumford School was seen as “a blessing from God,” according to the mailer, which noted that the school district had extended the RFP process for the vacant schools through Nov. 1. 

Stephen Donohue, the principal of St. John, confirmed that there were plans in the works but said no deals had been made and no transfer of property had been made.

“We’re at the stage where we’ll be presenting this to the two communities to see what people think,” he said. “Anything beyond that is speculation … we’re really looking for parishioner and school community input.”

At the meetings, scheduled for Oct. 9, 10, and 13, “the layout of the full plan” will be presented to parishioners and parents, Donohue said. After the meetings, “potentially, some decisions will be made … we’ll be more forthcoming at that time.”

Matt Cashman, the director of facilities and planning, did not return inquiries about the potential sale of the school.

Currently, the school is being leased to PSNH through the month of November, reportedly with an option to continue renting after that time period.

Tax-exempt status

One snag to the plan might be the fact that neither the Catholic parishes nor St. John school currently pay property taxes to the city. Staffers in the Concord Assessing Department confirmed that the churches have property tax exempt status and don’t pay a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes to the city.

Previously, in numerous discussions with the community before completing the elementary school consolidation plan, school board members and officials stressed that the vacant buildings would either be sold to for-profit entities that pay property taxes or agreements would be reached with potential developers to ensure that the properties became revenue producing for the city and school district, as well as protecting historic parts of the buildings.

Meeting schedule

The parishioners of Christ the King and parents of St. John are invited to attend meetings at the following times at St. John Evangelist Church: 

• 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 9
• 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 10
• 9 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 13.