Boston University’s Sargent Center for Outdoor Education will remain open in September after signing a lease Monday with Nature’s Classroom, an outdoor education center in Charlton, according to representatives of both parties.
BU President Robert Brown initially announced in January that BU would cease maintaining the 77-year-old center in New Hampshire due to financial strain. But after outcry from SCOE supporters, Brown said BU would be open to leasing the property to another organization to avoid complete closure.
‘ ‘I have always been optimistic, and I’ve been through a number of setbacks and disappointments,’ SCOE Director Rob Rubendall said. ‘But I must admit I was a little pleasantly surprised that this one moved along so quickly.’
The new lease with Nature’s classroom follows preliminary terms negotiated in the spring, and is what those involved in the talks hoped for, Rubendall said.
‘It is very close to what the memorandum of understanding stipulated,’ he said. ‘Everything’s been moving smoothly.’
The original agreement came at the end of the window for possible lease negotiations, when SCOE and its supporters had given up on finding a new maintainer for the facility. The Sargent Coalition, a student-headed advocacy group for the center, announced on its blog on May 8 that no agreement would be reached.’
‘We finally told [our customers] that we couldn’t come to an agreement, in early May,’ Rubendall said in June. ‘But almost on the heels to that we found that we’d come to an agreement.’
The lease is set for 19 months, during which both parties will have the opportunity to consider the terms, he said. They may elect to then continue with a second lease from March 2011 to December 2011. If everyone is still satisfied at that time, the lease will be renewed annually.
Rubendall said while the short-term nature of the lease ‘leaves some ambiguity about commitment,’ he expects the partnership to be successful.
‘As long as Nature’s Classroom is successful at generating revenue and finds [SCOE] a good addition to their programs, they’ll be happy to continue it,’ he said. ‘And as long as BU feels that their reputation is maintained, they’ll be comfortable with it.’
Nature’s Classroom does not expect to make major changes to any SCOE programs, Santos said.
‘ ‘I don’t think we have to be anything more than a slight ripple in the waters up there,’ he said in June.
Rubendall said besides closing the center for the winter months, which is new, he does not anticipate many changes beyond administrative ones.
‘There’s always change when you do something as radical as this, but it may well be change for the better,’ he said.
With most of the original staff staying on to work under Nature’s Classroom and the new school year beginning, the facility will begin providing its programs to groups this weekend.
Schools and residents who had used the facilities in the past are ‘excited and optimistic’ for SCOE’s future, Rubendall said.
‘Community response has been great,’ he said. ‘Everybody’s just delighted that we’re able to continue.’
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