It’s not even town property yet but already there is interest in it.
Washington College sent a letter to the Mayor and Council expressing its interest in purchasing the National Guard Armory from the town to use as part of the college’s waterfront campus.
“Washington College has long had an interest in purchasing the Chestertown Armory in support of our strategic vision to expand and strengthen the College’s waterfront presence. We view such an acquisition as an opportunity to enhance the academic and co-curricular experience of our students, to magnify the distinction Washington College enjoys as a ‘water college,’ and to maintain public access to this important community resource,” college President Mitchell Reiss wrote in the letter.
According to the letter, the college would work with the town to maintain community access to the property.
“Some initial thoughts on opportunities to collaborate with local organizations would be to devote some portion of the building to the arts and to create studio space that could be made available to local artists. Another thought is to collaborate with the Schooner Sultana Project to provide space for land-based programming. When the Sultana has a school group scheduled for the day and the weather makes it unadvisable to leave dockside, the Armory could provide space for the crew to conduct programming in lieu of canceling the outing. … We would also be pleased to entertain requests from groups that would find the large assembly hall an attractive venue for their programming (e.g. the hospital auxiliary, the Tea Party Festival, the Chestertown Wildlife Exhibition and Sale, etc.),” Reiss wrote.
The Mayor and Council agreed to try to set up a meeting with the college in June to discuss the possible purchase of the Armory and the impact on the town’s waterfront.
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