WINDHAM — The New Hampshire National Guard is eyeing the Applewood Golf Course land as the site for a new facility.

“We’re looking at all available options where we can build a field maintenance shop,” said Maj. Gen. William N. Reddel III, adjutant general.

The course near Interstate 93 and Route 111 interchange has been mentioned as one of three sites under consideration. The National Guard is also looking at sites in Hooksett and Milton, Reddel said, and is open to other locations.

The project is in the preliminary stages, and Reddel could not put a cost on the facility at this time. Federal funding for the building has been pushed back a year because no land has been purchased, he said.

The state Department of Transportation bought the 28.36 acre golf course to use as a staging area for the Route 111 relocation project. It was declared surplus and offered to the town in July for $3,060,000 plus administrative fees. Town officials passed on the offer believing it would be best for the land to be sold on the open market and kept on the tax rolls.

Community Development Director Laura Scott said it would be premature to offer an opinion on the National Guard project at this time. No agreement has been reached between the Department of Transportation and the National Guard, and there are no details on what is being proposed, she said.

In general, Scott said the parcel is a prime area of non-residentially zoned land in town, and past surveys have indicated that residents want to see medical, office, retail and commercial uses in that space.

“I would hope the DOT would, with any buyer, consider the long-term impact on the town not only for tax base but also for compatible use and the fact that it’s a very large piece of land right in the center of our commercially zoned area,” Scott said.

Depending on the details of the project, Scott could not rule out National Guard ownership. The National Guard has become quite involved in other communities where it locates and gives back quite a bit, Scott said.

Members of the Windham Economic Development Committee are hopeful that the National Guard will find another site, leaving the Applewood parcel available to development that is not tax exempt.

“The development of that property to its highest potential use under current zoning is critical to reducing the taxpayer tax burden in Windham,” said Al Letizio, a member of the Economic Development Committee.

Taxpayers are paying for a bond on the new high school and facing new school facility investments down the road to address capacity issues at the middle school level. The Economic Development Committee is striving to responsibly develop the town’s remaining parcels to ease the tax burden, Letizio said.

The Economic Development Committee is presenting a letter to the Board of Selectmen on Monday asking them to recommend that the National Guard find another parcel or another area for their facility, Letizio said.

jhanson@newstote.com