RICHMOND — The $26-million bond issue for the Chariho Regional School District went down in flames yesterday, defeated by a slim margin in Hopkinton although approved by substantial margins in Charlestown and Richmond.

The bond issue, for campus improvements that included the elimination of trailers used as classrooms, required approval in all three communities. It was rejected 447 to 494 in Hopkinton and approved 681 to 327 in Charlestown and 540 to 254 in Richmond.

Those figures include mail ballots.

After the ballots were counted last night, talk quickly turned into what this would mean for the district, which must now finance needed repairs out of its capital budget, and whether it would result in its disintegration.

This was the fifth building plan presented to district voters since 2000, and the fifth to be rejected by Hopkinton.

“I think we are … looking at the dissolution of the district,” said Gregory Kenney, of Hopkinton, who chaired the building committee.

“Hopkinton has just signed its own death warrant,” Kenney said, predicting that Charlestown and Richmond will pull out of the regional district, leaving Hopkinton to fend for itself.

“They [Charlestown and Richmond] are willing to invest in the future of their kids and Hopkinton just hasn’t seen the light yet,” he said.

Disappointed supporters of the plan turned their anger against Hopkinton officials who had openly opposed the building plan.

“What you’ve done, I think borders on evil,” Gregory Avedisian, who led an advocacy group in favor of the project, told Hopkinton Councilwoman Barbara Capalbo and Hopkinton School Committee member George Abbott.

“There is no good reason” for the measure’s defeat. You flat-out lied” when giving reasons to defeat it, Avedisian said.

Earlier in the night, the mood had been more upbeat as supporters gathered at the high school library talking about the voter turnout.

As the minutes wore on, Supt. Barry J. Ricci paced back and forth like a nervous parent-to-be, smiling tensely.

Cell phones started ringing shortly after the polls closed, at 9 p.m.

“We are still waiting,” answered anxious supporters waiting for the official word at the high school library, where the votes would be officially tallied.

Charlestown representatives were the first to arrive with filled-in ballots; it was 9:25 p.m. Then, Richmond. And finally Hopkinton. It was 9:36 p.m.

Two minutes later, Charlestown Town Sergeant Raymond M. Dusssault arrived with the mail ballots.

The first results announced were Charlestown’s. Without mail-in ballots, it had passed 671 to 320.

“Yes,” screamed Avedisian.

Then, it was on to Hopkinton.

It had failed by 53 votes, 437 to 490.

“Oh,” was the general response.

Richmond had passed too.

With 39 mail-in ballots to add, everyone realized the plan had indeed failed.

Stoically, Ricci thanked all of those who gathered for their efforts. “Our kids are not going to come up here and say thank you. So, on behalf of our kids, thank you for all the work you did,” he said.

“The work will get done anyway, and we’ll be here tomorrow morning doing whatever we have to do for the kids,” Ricci said.

The initial shock quickly turned to anger against the Hopkinton delegates.

“What’s the plan?” demanded an angry Stephanie Brown, a former School Committee member who supported the plan.

“Does your council have a plan?” she asked Capalbo.

“Actually, we have a few,” the councilwoman replied.

“This has been going on for a decade,” Brown said. “It’s frustrating.”

marmenta@projo.com