ADAMS — The transformation of Memorial School into 40 apartments and a new home for the Council on Aging is moving ahead a year after the town sold it to a developer.

Work on the 70,000-square-foot former school is moving along, said owner Michael Mackin, albeit slowly.

By the time the construction is finished, Mackin expects to invest more than $10 million on the project, which will include 40 apartments and a new 15,000-square-foot space for the Council on Aging.

Developer Michael Mackin has plans for the former Adams Memorial Middle School, which was constructed in 1952, including housing and a new home for the Adams Council on Aging.

The space will also be used for other town business, including storage, town elections and town meetings.

Mackin paid $50,000 for the building in a check to the town in May 2025.

He began working on the building in November.

“We had to take baby steps, because again, the town is still using this for functions. We had elections, special elections, town meetings,” he said, calling the town “a good partner.”

What attracted Mackin, of Ludlow, to this particular building?

“It’s a magnificent building,” he said. “It’s got good bones.”

The concrete floor in the girls locker room has been ripped out and is in chunks in a bin outside the school.

“There's a full set of prints for the bathroom renovation, and that's underway,” Mackin said. “The asbestos abatement is also done in that section, and we're just waiting for the plumbers to come in to start doing the rough plumbing.

By the time the construction is finished, developer Michael Mackin expects to invest more than $10 million on the project.

He said the rest of the building is "exploratory demolition" — basically clearing out the building to see what they have left to work with.

“For example, the lockers are all out, and anything that doesn't contain any contaminants is being removed."

Proceeding in this way will make it easier for subcontractors to come in and figure out pricing for the next phase of the project, he said.

Mackin said he expects the work to take about two years but that schedule will depend on federal and state grants.

“Money drives everything,” he said.

Inside the front entrance of the former Adams Memorial Middle School where the cafeteria was located.

The Council on Aging will occupy a small part of the former gymnasium, as well as the locker rooms on the south side of the building and part of the auditorium.

The old classrooms will become one-, two- and three-bedroom rental units — 32 will be rented at market rate and eight at lower rates.

Donna Cesan, Adams interim town planner, said there will be significant site work to provide expanded parking to the building, including cutting into an embankment and building a retaining wall.

While developer Michael Mackin has plans for the former Adams Memorial Middle School including 40 apartments, he said he will probably leave the mural, made by former students, intact at the south entrance to the building.

Without soliciting for interest, Mackin said he already has six names of potential tenants for the yet-to-be-built units.

So, will the mural of Adams history stay at the main entrance?

“If the town wants it,” Mackin said. “I guess there’s some history there.”

In addition to the apartment units, on the ground floor of the building, there will be a meeting space for residents.

Mackin praised the condition of the building, given that it hasn’t been used as a school for more than 15 years.

“It's a testament to the neighborhood and to the citizens of Adams,” he said. “This place has been vacant, except for the town using it occasionally, and there's really no damage.

"Nobody came in and broke anything," he added. "If this was in another town, it'd be gutted. They'd have to tear it down. It says a lot about the community.”