Sandy Pond Schoolhouse Preservation Projects
Founded in 1908, the Sandy Pond School Association (SPSA) has owned, maintained, and preserved Ayer's historic Sandy Pond Schoolhouse for over 100 years. SPSA emerged from a community movement to preserve and make use of the school for community events following its closing in 1906. The first Sandy Pond School Annual Reunion took place on June 27, 1908. On December 22, 1908, the Town of Ayer officially conveyed the property to the newly founded Sandy Pond School Association for the price of $1.00.
The Massachusetts Historical Commission wrote, in August of 2014: “Sandy Pond School is the only surviving example of a nineteenth-century district school in Ayer, and is one of a few extant that originally were part of the Groton district school system. After its use as a school ended in 1906, the physical fabric of the Sandy Pond Schoolhouse and interior features related to its historical educational purpose were maintained by the Sandy Pond School Association. Additions and alterations to fabric were done in a sensitive manner that highlighted the building’s history as a one-room schoolhouse, thus preserving its integrity.”
The SPSA’s goal is not only to preserve the building but to enhance Sandy Pond Schoolhouse's role as a piece of living history and a cultural resource that is open to the community now and for generations to come.
At the Fall Town Meeting in 2016 the town granted the funding request for the SPSA to have a Conditions Assessment done on the property to meet specific goals: 1) identifying and undertaking any necessary physical restoration work, 2) improving the grounds and landscaping, 3) opening the building to the public—including local schoolchildren—on a regular basis, and 4) ultimately ensuring the long-term future of this important historic property, Ayer’s oldest surviving public building. Total CPA funds requested for this study was $20,000.
On May 8, 2017 the Sandy Pond Schoolhouse was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. With this listing, additional funding opportunities are now available to help fund the restoration work needed on the foundation, roof and building exterior/interior.
In 2018 the Town approved the funding first phase costs for the structural restorations to Sandy Pond School. Total funds were $120,000.