NEWFANE — It may more inconvenient and expensive to hold Town Meeting inside a pair of historic buildings.
However, voters in Newfane said at Town Meeting on March 4 that tradition trumps certain savings.
By a voice vote, those voters overwhelmingly rejected an article calling for the town to use the Newbrook Elementary School for future Town Meetings, beginning in 2015.
Voters shot down a similar measure in 2011.
The town usually alternates between Union Hall in Newfane Village and Williamsville Hall in Williamsville as Town Meeting sites.
But town officials say it can cost more than $1,000 a year each to get the buildings, which are closed for winter, ready for Town Meeting.
Proponents of the school site cited ample parking, better heat, and accessibility as the main reasons to switch.
Opponents said that meetings at the school were harder to see and hear because the school lacks a stage.
Others said that by regularly using Union Hall and Williamsville Hall for Town Meetings and other activities, it helps raise awareness of the buildings and aids in their preservation for future generations.
In the end, tradition won out over practicality.