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Discussion Continues Over Future of Madison's Academy School

After several weeks of meetings, the Ad Hoc Academy Elementary School Architectural Services Contract Negotiating Committee has prepared a contract with Centerbrook Architects, the firm selected to outline a plan for the future of the Academy School building.

The current plan for the former school is to turn the facility into a cultural arts center under the guidance of the Shoreline Arts Alliance (SAA).

The contract with Centerbrook Architects, which has yet to be approved, includes a list of tasks and a timeline, but the big question still on the table is cost.

At the regularly scheduled Board of Selectmen (BOS) meeting on April 11, Negotiating Committee Chair Matt Williams spoke to present the contract and recommend the BOS move to accept the contract, stating, “The fees seemed reasonable for this kind of project.

“I think this proposal is the right way to do this project,” Williams said.

SAA CEO and Executive Director Eric Dillner said he was pleased to see the progress made by the committee and Centerbrook Architects.

“They [Centerbrook] adjusted the contract to meet our needs of developing numbers that we can all feel confident, as a town, for where the building is and then also developing numbers for what it would cost to really develop that facility into a cultural arts center,” he said.

The project is currently being considered in phases. The first phase of the project is to assess the cost to bring the building back to a habitable state, a step for which the town would be financially responsible.

To determine the total cost to bring the building back online, Williams said the town would need to spend approximately $100,000 to formally assess the current state of the building. Williams also said they estimated the entire project, from rehabilitation to transformation into a cultural arts center, will cost between $10- and $13 million.

First Selectman Tom Banisch said the town needs to be cautious with its spending because the cost of rehabbing the building is still unknown.

“I think that is what they want us to spend the $100,000—to get that number,” Banisch said. “We have to make a decision if it is worth spending that money” to determine the final cost of returning the building to a usable status.

While the town still has some financial concerns, the SAA is ready to move forward with the project.

“We need this project to move along because the reason we need all this now is because we want to be able to get out there and start raising the money to make this happen and without a firm commitment, we don’t want to begin that process,” said Dillner. “We are all prepared and have a strategy set and ready to go, but no one is going to give us the big dollars until we have a commitment.

“We are ready to make this happen,” said Dillner.