Residents have officially weighed in on their hopes for the Academy Building’s future. The Academy Advisory Committee’s online survey results received over 2,000 unique responses and gathered input from residents of all ages.

The survey, produced by John Lamirande, a member of the Committee and its unofficial “tech guru,” was intended to collect detailed responses so that the Committee could drill down and accurately decipher what residents were seeking.

According to the survey’s results, more than half of respondents were interested in using the former school as an arts and entertainment venue, a craft workspace, and a community gathering spot. Many residents voiced their interest in cooking classes, which will fit in with the current plans with a new commercial kitchen under consideration as part of the design. The survey also indicated that residents would like a space for a ceramics studio and music, dance, and performance spaces.

Committee Chair Bill Stableford said the results are intriguing and exciting.

“The Committee really did some extensive outreach work to gather this information. So, we feel we have really obtained some great feedback on what residents want,” Stableford said. “Prioritizing the types of services that will eventually be included was the goal of the survey, and I think we were able to accomplish that quite well.”

According to Stableford, with the help of Madison Youth and Family Services director Scott Cochran, the survey was made available to teens, which allowed for a very important demographic to be included. The survey also highlighted residents’ desire to see the facility cater to multi-generational uses. Additionally, residents were wary about duplicating services and programming found elsewhere in town.

“Scott Cochran worked out with [Daniel] Hand [High School] principal [Anthony] Salutari to take the survey during the school day, so that was very important and allowed that number to jump way up for us and provide some very interesting feedback,” said Stableford.

Lamirande said the effort was a success and that data clearly indicate certain preferences and, importantly, will provide the other Committees working on the project with invaluable information.

“We feel pretty positive that this is a nice core of results. There were five major categories that we looked at, and the survey allowed multiple choices for people to choose from,” Lamirande said. “Now, what we’ll do is use this ranking to figure out what the priorities will be for what is used for this space. One of the things that the Building Committee will need to consider is whether spaces will be dedicated to just one service or be flexible so that multi-use activities can occur. We think the data that we collected will really help that Committee with its work.”

Lamirande added that some of the desired uses, like performance space or exhibit space, also provide the opportunity to generate revenue.

“The thing that is important to note is that both of these are potential revenue-generating activities, which will help with operating costs,” said Lamirande.

When it comes to potential sports and exercise activities, the responses showed a preference for several, including exercise space and programming, basketball, pickleball, pool, and even a high number in favor of a climbing wall.

The survey was not a referendum, according to the Advisory Committee, but simply a platform to aggregate what residents want prioritized. The survey is not binding in that sense. Still, according to Stableford, the data will be sent to the Building Committee so that feasible requests can eventually be incorporated into the final designs.

Survey results are available at madisonct.org/AcademySurveyResults2023