MADISON — After a referendum failed to win public support in May for increasing the budget for converting the Academy School building into a community center, the Board of Selectmen said they were making a last-ditch effort to find someone interested in the property before the town opts to demolish it.
During a Tuesday virtual meeting the Board of Selectmen discussed the next steps before issuing a wide-open request for proposals on the future of the property.
First Selectwoman Peggy Lyons, a Democrat, said she had created a “loose working group”— not a formal committee— with people with expertise, staff and members of the public to put together a call for proposals.
The ad hoc group has considered a number of options including affordable and market-rate housing, an independent arts center and a business incubator.
Selectman Al Goldberg, a Democrat, supported the idea of soliciting proposal.
“The academy building is a significant asset both financially and emotionally,” Goldberg said. “There’s no reason not to go through this process.”
Lyons said she sent the town selectmen a draft of a request for proposals on Sunday night and expected to publish it in the coming weeks, with responses to be vetted in November.
If a viable idea for redeveloping the property fails to materialize, the town would likely proceed with a partial or total demolition of the structure.
The Academy School has posed a dilemma for town officials since plans spiraling costs nixed the idea of a converting the building into a community center. In May, 60% of Madison voters rejected expanding the project’s budget to $24 million — 50% more than the original cost approved in 2022.
Republican Selectman Bruce Wilson voiced concern about the idea of pursuing residential development for the property given that the idea appeared at odds with a 2018 survey of local residents.
“If we think about the ideal of an active community space, and the community center being sort of the best expression of that, a town community green is at least a dotted line connection to that ideal,” Wilson said. “Any other use is going to be a fundamental move away from that. Certainly, residential property takes it off the table as a community gathering space.
Wilson said he was opposed to a call for proposals and favored instead demolishing the building.
But Lyons warned that the housing situation had worsened since the community center debate began.
“Housing demand is still incredibly high and there’s very little inventory,” Lyons said. “This doesn’t say it has to be housing. It just says that housing is clearly an option that should be considered.”
Lyons emphasized that there was still the possibility of creating a cultural arts center or even long-term leases that would not involve selling the building and generating revenue.
When asked about demolition costs, Lyons said that town construction manager Ben Whittaker had recommended waiting for quotes for the demolition of Ryerson Elementary School, which were expected between September and October. She said Whittaker believed the town could extrapolate costs for demolishing the Academy School building based on the quotes for Ryerson’s demolition, an option that would save the town about $40,000 in consulting fees.
Wilson criticized that approach on the grounds that the building had turned up “unpleasant surprises” in the past and suggested that hiring a consultant would be money well spent.
“I’m a little concerned about extrapolating the Ryerson number to the academy and then getting into a demolition path and finding out that it’s materially different,” Wilson said.
Lyons said Whittaker considered it a waste of funds. She suggested Whittaker speak with the selectmen to explain his analysis.
Built in 1921, the Academy School operated until 2004, after which the school board vacated it and handed it over to the town in 2011. The cost of remediation was a point of controversy during the debate leading up to the referendum. Some opponents felt that the building’s condition posed a serious risk that the cost could skyrocket even beyond the new budget.
Lyons said at the meeting that it was not true that the building was in such terrible condition that it could not be restored.
“There’s this narrative that somehow this building is worse off than anything ever in the state of Connecticut,” Lyons said, “when the reality is it’s not.”
One of the project’s most vocal critics in this regard was resident Andrew Vallombroso, who said after the selectmen’s meeting that he was opposed to prolonging the process.
“I believe it should definitely be demolished because it’s not cost-effective to do anything else with it. I don’t think any developer will get involved due to the cost of the removal of all that asbestos, mold and lead,” Vallombroso said. “The only feasible option is to demolish it and turn it into maybe a park.”