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Five Proposals Submitted to Be Considered for Academy School

With 11 firms initially expressing interest in redeveloping the former Academy School in the town center, the Town of Madison has now received five proposals from developers on their visions of what they would do with the Academy School building. According to Town Planner Dave Anderson, the request for proposal (RFP) was intentionally open-ended.

“The RFP allowed responses as to what people would see doing with the building only, the building and the five-acre parcel, and whether they wanted to buy or lease or come up with another agreement,” said Anderson. “We wanted to keep it pretty open in order to get interesting ideas for utilization of site.”

There were several parameters in place in the RFP that addressed concerns citizens had voiced, such as saving the original portion of the Academy School building, keeping the playground on or nearby the site, and using the property as a mixed-use development.

Now that the proposals have been submitted, the next step in deciding the fate of the Academy School building and site is in the hands of the Board of Selectmen (BOS). The working group that facilitated the administrative process of the request for qualifications and the RFPs will now pass the five proposals onto the BOS for its review.

Anderson noted that while the hope was to receive six to eight proposals, receiving five, which includes one that is detailed as “slightly conceptual,” was still a good response.

“We got a good range of responses and, for me, a couple are exciting and workable and something I think the town will be happy with,” said Anderson. “Next, everything will be kicked up to the BOS, we’ll share the proposals with the public, get feedback, and the BOS will navigate the process going forward.”

The way the proposals will be presented to the public has yet to be decided, but options include posting them to the town website, a charrette-style town meeting to review the proposals, or a combination of both.

Anderson noted that the item could be discussed at a BOS meeting as early as late January or in early February. After that, it is a matter of disseminating the information to the public and the decision coming to a vote.

“We will probably do a couple different things to solicit as many responses from the public as possible,” said Anderson. “It’s important that everybody be engaged in the process because at the end of the day, it will be presented at referendum. The full timeline for the completion of the project will be dictated by if the town is happy with what is proposed or if adjustments need to be made.”

The Academy School building, built in 1921, was closed in 2004 and turned over to the town in 2011. Since then, proposed uses have included apartments and an arts center; the most thoroughly pursued option, creating an arts center for the Shoreline Arts Alliance, ended in July 2016.

According to recent figures, cost estimates to renovate the property start at $8 million. The current appraised value of the whole parcel—the 5.13 acres including the ball fields, the playground, and the building itself—is $5,304,700. Properties are assessed at 70 percent of market value, so based on the town assessment, the market value of the property is $7,578,143.

Staff Writer Zoe Roos contributed reporting to this story.