WOBURN - The printing industry has less and less to do with ink and more and more to do with computers with each passing day.

The Kennedy Middle School has a print shop program that has kept up with the times, moving from a traditional program some dozen years ago, according to Assistant Supt. for Curriculum Dr. Louise Nolan, to desktop publishing.

The old equipment however, sat idle at the school taking up space. As it became clear the equipment would no longer be needed in the school system, officials tried to find a buyer for it.

That search has been unsuccessful, but the School Department has received word that the Museum of Printing in North Andover would be interested in acquiring some of the pieces as donations, in return for which it would take care of removing and disposing of all of the equipment. This would be done at no expense to the school system.

At the recent School Committee meeting, a memo from School Business Manager Joseph Elia, and a communication from the museum's executive director were reviewed; the committee then voted to approve the donation of the equipment and request the City Council approve the necessary order.

A memo from City Clerk William Campbell noted that a request to dispose of the equipment was already pending in the City Council's Ordinance Committee from this summer and that perhaps the chairman, Stephen Braese, should be contacted to see if it can be scheduled for action.

Good solution

"Mike Mulrenan, Roy Robblee and I have tried to find a buyer for the equipment (including local newspapers and printing companies) but we have come up empty," said Elia's memo.

"Disposal of the equipment would cost a significant amount of money ($7,500 to $12,000) and the items would be used as scrap metal. The best alternative would be giving the equipment to the Museum of Printing in North Andover."

Mulrenan had contacted the museum's executive director, Gardner LePoer, who came to the Kennedy Middle School to look at the equipment after a buyer could not be found.

Following his visit, LePoer sent a detailed review of the equipment, noting some pieces should be removed as they could prove a safety hazard if kids tried hard enough to get at them.

"The museum would be willing to remove all of the old equipment because we are going to set up an adult ... classroom in the basement and many of the pieces at the school were specifically set up as teaching stations; this would include the printer's stone, the two light tables and the two type cabinets," LePoer wrote.

"The heavy letterpress machine and the cutter are the machines that really need to be removed [for safety] and yet these two pieces are basically redundant to things we have.

"We would be pleased to remove them with the other stuff, but I hope you understand that we would be reluctant to expend both money and time on getting only these two difficult pieces."

LePoer then went on to review each of the 13 pieces of equipment individually, noting which were safety hazards or use of which is no longer permitted, which would be useful for the museum's classroom, and which should be scrap or spare parts.

The School Committee voted to approve donating the equipment to the museum and requesting the council approval.

"We won't see any of this stuff on the "Antiques Roadshow?" quipped member John Wells.