Lenox to look at options for The Mount

LENOX – With the fear of a looming $4 million balloon payment waiting over her organization, Susan Wissler, the executive director of The Mount, has begun to look outside of the box.

Ms. Wissler has been meeting with town leaders for several weeks and begun to generate a formal proposal to enter into a partnership with the town to relieve that debt.

“First and foremost, my job is to protect the property of The Mount,” Ms. Wissler told members of the Community Preservation Committee (CPC) this week.

The proposal from The Mount is to have the town pay off the remaining $3.9 million in debt the organization has as part of a plan to make the land, and surrounding privately-held land, a public park.

“It seems that this would meet the open space needs of the town,” explained Ms. Wissler. “This would make this great property open to all residents.”

Currently residents must pay $16 to access the ground. Under The Mount’s plan, access to the grounds would be free, yet tours of the main house and other cultural programs would still have fees to pay for the ongoing maintenance of the property.

The Mount’s property currently totals 50 acres. Ms. Wissler has been in talks with abutting property owners to gauge their interest in making their properties a part of the would-be park.

According to Ms. Wissler, several of those property owners are interested, and when added to The Mount’s property and the already public land at Edith Wharton Park, the new public park would total 150 acres of open space.

The park would extend from Route 7 and Plunkett Street to the shores of Laurel Lake.

The major concerns for the town would be both the upfront cost, near $4 million, and the possible ongoing upkeep of the property after the purchase.

Ms. Wissler has said that The Mount, which generates $700,000 a year in revenue, would be able to provide for all of the maintenance of the grounds and the buildings.

Still, the large nature of the possible project has gotten the attention of town government.

“You should be commended for being extraordinarily bold,” joked CPC Member Albert Harper after Ms. Wissler explained her proposal.

Town Manager Gregory T. Federspiel also feels it is a large project but a project that could be very intriguing to the town.

“We certainly need to gather much more information before any steps can be taken, but this opportunity certainly warrants additional thought and conversation,” said Mr. Federspiel told The Beacon.

Mr. Federspiel also explained the town has a number of options to use as they move forward, including discussions by the select board as a whole or having an existing committee like the Community Preservation Committee leading the effort for the town.

Posted by Kameron Z. Spaulding on April 11, 2013. Filed under Community News,Featured,News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry