Blizzard Causes Academy School Public Workshop To Be Postponed

MADISON, CT — A blizzard has forced the town to postpone its planned public workshop to discuss the future of the Academy School.

The new date for the hearing is March 28. It will be held 7 p.m. at the Polson Middle School cafeteria. It was originally scheduled for Tuesday, March 14, and of course that just happens to be the date we're expecting a blizzard to drop 12 to 18 inches of snow on Madison.

"The Town seeks your input in making decisions about the future of Academy School. Please fill out the survey and consider attending the Public Workshop, which will now be held on March 28, 2017 (postponed from March 14 due to the storm). Academy School Information & Survey," town officials said Monday.

Read Jack Kramer, Patch Correspondent's story on the status of the Academy School

MADISON, CT – More than 700 Madisonites have answered a survey about what the town should do with the former Academy Street School, consultants hired to advise officials on the school’s future told the Historic District Commission at its most recent meeting.

The town will be holding a public forum on the school’s future on Tuesday, March 14th at 7 p.m. at the Polson Middle School Cafeteria, and has posted a survey on the town of Madison’s website to get opinions on possible future uses of the boarded-up former school.

Nearly half those who answered the survey, or 47 percent, think the building should be re-developed with a mixture of uses; 35 percent said they liked the idea of using the building for some other town use; 30 percent said some sort of retail would be good for the site; 26 percent said housing is a good use for the site; 21 percent would like to see it reused as a school; and, 18 percent said they would like to see it used for office space.

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Three percent said they would like to see it not reused for any purpose.

One big problem with renovating the school, according to Francisco Gomes, the consultant the town has hired to help guide it through the next steps, is he told the Historic Commission it would cost potentially several million dollars to fix it up for future use.

The property has been appraised by the town assessor at $5 million, for the land and the buildings; it would generate a little short of $100,000 a year in property taxes, if it was no longer owned by the town, according to Gomes.

Concerning the historical significance of the building, most of the survey responses were that the building was significant or very significant to the character or identity to the town of Madison; respondents also believe the building is significant to the town’s history; less than 15 percent of the responses state that the building is not that historically significant, Gomes said.