Union Springs Central School District taxpayers have had enough of watching the historic Stone Schoolhouse deteriorate.

On Tuesday, taxpayers overwhelmingly approved a capital project to renovate the condemned 150-year-old school building into a state-of-the-art media center, housing the current video technology course offered at the middle/high school as well as various other media and communications.

The final tally was 281-37.

“We are very excited, and I think a very touching part of the day was when people came in and shared their stories of their times in the Stone Schoolhouse and their memories of the Stone Schoolhouse,” said Superintendent Linda Rice. “It was a day of sentiment.”

The project's total cost will be about $296,821. Of that amount, $207,433 was secured in building aid units - the cost of construction of an educational facility by square foot - from the state Education Department, and $77,888 was secured in EXCEL aid for the technology piece.

The district would borrow the remaining $11,500, with the taxpayers picking up the bill for $20,052 in capitalized interest, which will be paid back over 16 years.

Averaged out, the entire community as a whole would have to pay $1,253 per year.

If the vote had failed, the district would have had to pay $65,000 to $75,000 to demolish the structure.

“I certainly appreciate the support from the community,” Rice said. “My desire was to give the community a choice, and by getting the funding for the project and the amount of funding for this project, it was a choice to preserve one of the oldest facilities in Union Springs at a financially responsible price for the taxpayers.

“It will be a building that will be well cared for and well cared about.”