Following polling results showing community support for a community center at Academy School, the Board of Selectmen (BOS) has hired Colliers International as a consultant and created a new committee the delve into the matter, and next will hold a public information session on the building and the community center option in the near future.

On Feb. 11, the BOS discussed and approved a series of actions to further explore and flesh out a community center option, including contracting with Colliers International, a local project management firm frequently used by the town and schools, and forming a new committee to specifically focus on a community center design.

The board approved a $10,000 contract with Colliers International for consultation services and project management. Per the contract, Colliers will review existing studies and available reports, work with an architect, develop a project concept or floor plan, develop a total project budget including potential operating costs, and explore historic preservation tax credit opportunities.

In addition, the board approved the formation of the Ad-Hoc Academy School Community Center Design Committee. The committee will consist of five members and is charged with working in consultation with Colliers International to create a design proposal, create a cost estimate, hold public input or workshop sessions for the public, and recommend next steps for the design proposal to the BOS by Monday, April 8.

At the meeting, there were also a number of discussions about the function of a community center in town. The board suggested and agreed to a public information session in the near future.

“What I would propose as the primary goal of the first information session would be to see if we could talk Kathryn Hunter [of the Academy Building Guidance Committee] into re-presenting that information the committee did over a series of two well-attended public meetings to re-acquaint everyone with exactly what the information package was going into the poll,” said Selectman Bruce Wilson. “Hopefully then that will create some creative discussion around the ‘what else?’ question.”

Board members all agreed to that idea and Hunter has agreed to the presentation, but no formal date was set. However, First Selectman Tom Banisch has indicated he would like to aim for Tuesday, Feb. 26 for the public information session.

The date was not confirmed at press time; a public information could be happening as soon as the week of Feb. 25. Visit the town website www.madisonct.org for more information and confirmation of upcoming meeting dates and agendas.

The Academy Dilemma in Brief

The Academy School building has been vacant for more than a decade and multiple administrations have struggled to find a popular solution for the building and its lot.

The parcel is 5.1 acres in the historic district and in the R-2 Residential Zone, which allows for single-family residential, municipal, educational, recreational, and religious uses. The building itself is 53,000 square feet with three floors, 16 classrooms, a gym, theater, kitchen, cafeteria, and music rooms. The building is also on the National Register of Historic places, which means there is a risk of litigation if the building is demolished.

The BOS established the Academy Building Guidance Committee (ABGC) after the public pushed back on private development options presented in February 2018. The committee found four feasible private development options and three public/community uses for the building.

GreatBlue Research conducted polling on the seven options. GreatBlue amassed 10,000 phone numbers for Madison residents—for both landlines and cell phones—and called until it logged 400 responses for a statistically significant result during the week of Nov. 26. An online version of the poll went live on Dec. 3 and logged the maximum 2,000 responses allowed in a span of two weeks.

Polling results were announced at the Jan. 28 BOS meeting and the results, for both the phone and online poll, favored a community center option. The ABGC then put forward the following recommendation:

“The results set forth in the GreatBlue report show that a majority of those polled and surveyed support the town’s continued ownership of Academy School, restoration of the building as a community center, and strong opposition to the sale or development of the surrounding ball fields and parkland. The committee supports the findings of the GreatBlue report and recommends that the BOS be guided by these findings in presenting a plan to Madison residents for vote at referendum.”