News
The College recently put up for sale a 20-acre parcel of land that the town of Lebanon is considering as a potential site for a swimming pool.
The lot is located on Route 10 and belongs to a 2,500 acre holding called the "Dartmouth-Lebanon Property."
The swimming pool committee of Lebanon, the Twin Pines Housing Trust and three other residential developers have expressed interest in the land.
But Dartmouth Real Estate Director Paul Olsen said "the city would always have priority over a third party" and the College is "not entertaining any offers" until Lebanon makes a final decision.
Due to their "long future together," the city and the College must work together, Olsen said.
Olsen added that the College would be unwilling to sell the land for an amount it thinks is below the land's fair market value.
Olsen added that he does not foresee "a pattern of parceling off Dartmouth's property" in the future.
Last year Lebanon's city council allocated $300,000 for either repairs of the Lebanon's swimming pool on Pumping Station Road or the construction of a new pool.
The swimming pool committee, responsible for surveying potential sites for a new pool and presenting their information to the city council, is considering the College plot along with many other potential sites.
Bert Blais, chairman of the Lebanon pool committee and the recreation commission, said the committee is currently examining the accessibility, the amount of parking space, the number of sewer lines and the amount of work needed to prepare a number of potential sites.
Blais said he would personally "like to repair the pool and continue searching for land, then build a new pool in five to 10 years."
The idea to sell the land initially came from an inquiry by the Twin Pines Housing Trust, who wishes to buy the property to build private residences.
Twin Pines made an offer which the College deemed too low, even though the precise value of the land has not yet been assessed Olsen said.
Wallace Roberts, executive director of Twin Pines, said that "the site is a superior building site."
Roberts cited the advantage of the land being accessible to municipal water and sewer lines.
He also noted the number of workers in Lebanon who need affordable housing and said that Hanover "has the necessary facilities, yet has no appreciable amount" of affordable housing.
Olsen said the land is not very useful to the College because it "not connected to the College in a strategic way or to anything we own."
The 20-acre plot is cut off from the rest of the Dartmouth-Lebanon Property by a steep ridge.
Olsen said if the College believes it has a good offer from Lebanon or from private real estate developers, it will seek formal approval internally.
