The Anna Maria College community was left reeling when President Sean Ryan announced last month that the college would close at the end of this spring semester. The college administration assured seniors they would be able to walk at graduation in May. They pledged that they would do everything possible to help undergraduates affiliate with other institutes of higher learning so they could complete their degrees.

However, a different question looms for Paxton and its residents: After the students, faculty and staff leave the college and quiet descends on the 260-acre campus, what comes next for the property? What economic and social impact will its future have on the town of just over 5,000 residents?

There have been lively suggestions online: the dormitories will be converted to senior housing, low-income housing, 40-B, or condos. Given the college’s debts, the buildings will remain vacant, and the campus will deteriorate into a ghost town. Or some think the campus will resemble Atlantic Union College in Lancaster. Closed in 2018, that 130-acre campus remains largely undeveloped while its owner, the Atlantic Union Conference, maintains the upkeep on the main campus’ buildings and grounds.

At the April 27 Selectboard meeting, Chair Peter Bogren asked Town Administrator Robert Birkbeck to ask Leicester officials how they managed the 2021 closing of Becker College, which had a campus and numerous buildings in that town. He also asked Birkbeck to reach out to the City of Amherst officials to ask how they are managing the news from Hampshire College, which announced its closing just a week before AMC’s announcement.

“My biggest concern,” said Bogren, “is what is going to become of that property. The Sisters of St. Anne own it now. There are notes on the property.”

Concerns were raised over immediate financial impacts on the town. The college has paid more than $1 million annually to the town for different services, including, among others, water and electricity usage and meals tax. 

“We need to be proactive and reach out to the school,” said Bogren, “and start the process of at least getting our voice heard.” The property is zoned for education, which limits future development. “That puts us in the seat,” said Bogren “so we at least have a voice.”

Bogren suggested that the selectboard form a committee after the May 11 election when two new candidates will join the board.

Birkbeck said residents have suggested the town move some of its offices or the DPW facility to the campus to create a compound. He also said a suggestion was made to site a vocational technical high school on the campus.

On April 1, the Mass. Senate passed the FARM Bill: an Act Fostering Agricultural Resilience in Massachusetts. State Senator Ryan Fattman of Sutton, representing the Worcester and Hampden District, successfully added an amendment calling for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) to study the feasibility of creating a new agricultural high school.

Currently, if a Central Mass student wants to study agricultural sciences, the town where that student lives must provide that education by sending the student to one of the four agricultural high schools that are in Walpole, Dighton, Northampton, or Danvers - at a cost of upwards of $70,000 per year. The study will identify possible sites for the school and hold at least four public hearings, one of which must be in Worcester County. DESE will post a draft no later than Dec. 31, 2026, and hold one additional public hearing. The final report is due no later than July 1, 2027.

“This is a huge step toward regional equity in education offerings for agricultural school districts across Central Massachusetts,” said Fattman when the bill was passed. “If Central Massachusetts had an agricultural school, we could save tremendous money on transportation costs while still offering competitive agricultural education to students who are interested.”

Senator Fattman’s office confirmed there will be a legislative breakfast at Bay Path Regional Vocational Technical High School sometime in June. While the spokesperson acknowledged the point about possibly siting a school at Anna Maria, she said the senator was looking at high schools with acreage capacity.

The selectboard concluded its discussion by asking that a representative from the Sisters of St. Anne, perhaps Dr. David Trainor, chair of the AMC Board of Trustees, come before them or meet with Birkbeck. Suggestions for the local committee composition included representatives from the planning board, zoning board, conservation committee, and interested town residents. 

“The impact on the community is going to be substantial,” said Bogren about the property’s future. W