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06/28/2016 12:00 AMWith the July 1 expiration date of the letter of intent with the Shoreline Arts Alliance (SAA) just around the corner, the Board of Selectmen (BOS) voted at their regular meeting on June 27 to extend the letter of intent 60 days to allow for further negotiations of the lease.
First Selectman Tom Banisch said, in speaking with the town attorney, that a 60-day extension was advisable to continue negotiations.
“We have come up with another proposal for the lease contract,” he said. “We consider this to be a time is of the essence thing- we would like to get this done.”
The Academy School has been a hot button topic in town since the school was vacated more than a decade ago. Over the past three years, the town has been working with SAA to explore the idea of building a cultural arts center and the two parties signed a letter of intent designed to facilitate further investigation to that end.
Over the past several months the SAA and the current BOS had been discussing terms for the lease and how to divide financial responsibility for the project. Recent discussions had left the town and SAA at odds over the project timeline, financial obligations, and final deal terms of the lease.