ROCKPORT — There's a big slab of open concrete on West Street where Rockport Elementary School stood for almost 60 years, swept clean of all debris collected following its tear-down. But the space is not going unused: Skateboarders have taken to practicing on the flat, and come June, Cellardoor Winery, of Lincolnville, will set up there for its annual music, wine and food celebration, Pop the Cork, June 27. Following that event, the Portland-based Maine Home and Design magazine is to rent the land from Rockport, June 29 and 30, for its annual Maine Home and Design Show.

Rockport resident Mark Ingraham happened by the demolition recently, and videotaped the fall of the last structure standing — the chimney — as a crew from Rockport Public Works fastened chains and yanked it down.

"This is the kind of stuff that excites engineers," he said, laughing as he reviewed the chimney's collapse into a pile of bricks.

The future of the land remains ambiguous, as the town has yet to decide the future of the 7.67-acre parcel that lies on the corner of West Street and Route 1. From 1954 to 2011, it fell under purview of the Camden-Rockport School Board, which constructed a series of buildings there over the decades to house thousands of local elementary school students. A mold problem, combined with crumbling foundations and deteriorating walls, resulted in the major expansion of a newer school — Camden-Rockport Elementary School — a half-mile west on Route 90 four years ago. The school district walked out of the old RES for the last time in 2008. The land subsequently reverted to town ownership, opening debate about what to do next with it.

Meanwhile, the popular ball field remains open for rent from the town, as the seasons of sports roll through the calendar.

Rockport Public Works demolished the buildings and hauled the majority of it all away to the Mid-Coast Solid Waste transfer station on Union Street. The gymnasium trusses went to Bath to become incorporated into a new boatbuilding shed. As of this week, the town was ensuring that the cement left on the site was free from tripping hazards, said Mike Young, assistant public works director.

The Rockport Public Library, in planning for its future with a $15,000 grant from the Davis Foundation, has included the former RES site as one alternative parcel for a possible new library site. The library, in Rockport Village, has space challenges: it is limited in expansion by a stream and cannot add height to its building due to ordinance. It already has expanded four times in the past, according to the library.

Architectural company Scott Simons, of Portland, was hired to produced conceptual designs in this new round of library expansion discussions. Architects are fine-tuning the schematics, readying them for more public meetings about the library's future. Read about those plans and more at the Rockport Public Library's website.

Editorial Director Lynda Clancy can be reached at lyndaclancy@penbaypilot.com; 706-6657.