Madison Historical Society Open Letter on Academy School

Dear Town of Madison Board of Selectmen and all Madison citizens and taxpayers:

The Madison Historical Society, by means of this open letter, encourages the Board of Selectmen in its ongoing efforts to solicit private development proposals to preserve the former Academy Street Elementary School building. The proposals may include residential uses, commercial uses, or other uses, consistent with the historic aspects of the Academy building and nearby structures.

Along with Scranton Library, the Academy building has stood as a bookend of Madison’s downtown for more than 100 years and is a major contributing resource to the Madison Green National Historic District. Our understanding is that significant incentives exist for developers in the form of potential state and federal tax credits and other programs for adaptive re-use of the building. In addition, we understand that the Academy property may be eligible for federal and state tax credits specifically for historic preservation. Still other programs exist to remediate “brownfields,” where hazardous materials must be removed before development can begin. All of these programs could help to make adaptive re-use of this historic structure a feasible proposition.

The Madison Historical Society will encourage private and public support for qualified and appropriate projects that will preserve the historic character of the neighborhood and take full advantage of economic and other incentives. We also
advocate preservation of the existing ball fields adjacent to the former school building; we hope that they will be maintained for public use.

Sincerely,
Board of Trustees
Madison Historical Society