Colebrook Academy has stood in the heart of this town since 1911.

On April 27, that could start to change — permanently.

• ⚠️ IMPORTANT: No Donations Needed or Requested. Change.org may prompt you to donate after signing. That money does not go to this cause — it goes to the Change.org platform. Please ignore it. Your signature is all we're asking for.

The Coos County Delegation is holding a public hearing on Monday, April 27 at 9 a.m. at the North Country Resource Center in Lancaster.

Immediately following that hearing, delegation members are expected to vote on authorizing $6 million in bonds as part of a $23 million project to convert the former Colebrook Academy campus into a long-term care facility.

Plans include the demolition of portions of the building. 

No historic review has been conducted. The age of the building hasn't even been identified in project documents.

A structure that has stood since 1911 — more than a century of Colebrook history.

The need for modern long-term care in Coos County is real. No one is dismissing that. The current facility in West Stewartstown is aging, outdated, and operating on a state waiver. Something has to change. But this is $23 million dollars of public money. Some of it is yours!

This petition is not about stopping progress.

Coos County needs modern long-term care. That is not in dispute. Repurposing the Academy site may well be the right path forward — but repurposing and demolition are not the same thing.

What we are asking is simple: before any walls come down, the historic character of this building must be formally recognized and protected. Any renovation plan should be required to preserve and incorporate the architectural and historic elements that make this building what it is — not erase them.

A 114-year-old building can become a modern care facility and retain its soul. Other communities have done it. Coos County can too.

But that only happens if someone stops to ask the question before the bulldozer shows up.

We are asking the Coos County Delegation and the NH Division of Historical Resources to:

✅ Place Colebrook Academy on the NH State Register of Historic Places

✅ Pause  any demolition plans until a historic review is complete

✅ Require that any renovation plan preserve the historic character of the building

If you can be there — be there. Public Hearing | Monday, April 27 | 9 a.m. North Country Resource Center | Lancaster, NH

⚠️ IMPORTANT: No Donations Needed or Requested. Change.org may prompt you to donate after signing. That money does not go to this cause — it goes to the Change.org platform. Please ignore it. Your signature is all we're asking for.