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09/02/2015 09:30 AMThe Shoreline Arts Alliance’s hopes for an arts center in the town’s former Academy School building are being bolstered by the possibilities shown in a conceptual study. At the same time, ongoing assessments of the building’s current condition—followed by a need to secure town approval and outside funding—are keeping the excitement at a low boil.
Town officials and Town Engineer Michael Ott are currently in the process of completing conditions assessments on the building, which hasn’t been used regularly in more than a decade.
“The school closed down in 2004 and the building was turned over to the town,” said Shoreline Arts Alliance(SAA) CEO and Executive Director Eric Dillner. “There has been no heating or air conditioning, no real attempt to keep it an active space for the last decade, so it needs help. We are really working on getting a really clean assessment of the property so that we all know what we would be getting into.”
Dillner said there is a strong town desire to make this project work and he is excited about the possibilities the building offers.
“The goal is to have the building completely full of art,” he said. “And all forms of art. We had the Yale Architecture and Drama Masters program studying this building all semester long, just from the performing arts aspect.”
He said the potential of the building is endless.
“We are thinking of all of the spaces in the building as being multi-purpose,” he said.
While the building is being assessed, the next big step for SAA is securing funding for the lease and maintaining the program.
First Selectman Fillmore McPherson said the funding would not come from the town, but he has high hopes the SAA will find a home in Madison.
“Many of us are in favor of having an arts presence in that building,” he said. “I am confident that they will be able to come up with the funds.”
Dillner said the alliance will seek out funds for opening the building and hiring staff, as well as a possible endowment to cover potential challenges and expansion.
“Our goal will be to go to every potential funding source and get them involved in this project,” he said.
State interest and the age of the building could be a big help in funding, according to Dillner.
“We have had a lot of great interest in this project from the state,” he said. “Really sizable funds are available to us because it is a historic building with the intent to educate and bring tourism to the town.”
The alliance has long been searching for a new facility located on the shoreline between New London and New Haven, Dillner said.
“The goal has been to be in the middle,” he said. “The Academy has a great location right on the train line and right by the highway, and it is in a wonderful community.”