By Dan Hust
NARROWSBURG — Listed with a local real estate agent and marketed by economic development officials, both the closed Narrowsburg and Delaware Valley campuses of Sullivan West remain for sale.
And the one serious offer made this year for Narrowsburg – from the Solution Project, a group of Narrowsburg residents and businesspeople interested in restoring the hamlet’s school as a community center – has been withdrawn.
That was confirmed at last week’s meeting of the SW Board.
“The Solution Project’s offer is not on the table anymore,” Noel van Swol told his fellow board members, reporting about the recent Facilities Needs Committee meeting. “They offered significantly less than the asking price.”
Their offer was $450,000. The school is listed for sale at $700,000.
Van Swol and other board members didn’t fault the Solution Project’s organizers for their offer but said the board “has a fiduciary responsibility the other way” – to get the best possible price for the campus.
“We do not have any bids on our buildings at this time,” stated Supt. Nancy Hackett at the board meeting. “There is no one interested.”
But the Solution Project’s president, Andrea Reynosa, told the Democrat Tuesday that the district basically sat on her group’s offer.
“They never responded,” she said. “That was just our offer – they could have countered.”
The Solution Project was interested in opening the Narrowsburg campus to a variety of tenants and events like EagleFest.
Reynosa said previous Supt. Ken Hilton told her the Solution Project might get into a bidding war with other interested parties – a tactic not favored by the group, and an approach that struck Reynosa as unprofessional.
But now that the pipes have been drained and heat shut off, the interest in Narrowsburg (and DV) seems to have drained away, too.
Still, said Reynosa, the Solution Project remains interested in hearing from SW.
Supt. Hackett subsequently told the Democrat that she had met with Reynosa in July, and Hackett understood that the Solution Project had a real estate agent who would contact SW’s agent, John Hector.
As of Tuesday, she did not know if any contact had been made, though a presentation from Hector is scheduled for the board’s September meeting.
“He is ready and willing to accept anything brought forth,” said Hackett, adding that the district remains eager to consider offers.
In the meantime, the Solution Project continues to seek suitable space in the Narrowsburg area, aided by a $25,000 U.S. Dept. of Agriculture grant recently awarded to it for just such a purpose.
“There’s a lot of need for large meeting space for the community,” Reynosa acknowledged.
