LUNENBURG, N.S. – An ambitious plan to revitalize the Lunenburg Academy and launch a new music school has hit financial trouble.
Last September, town officials and local art advocates unveiled their vision for the site. They had hoped to create the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance (LAMP).
Organizer Burt Wathen said two potential sources of funding have fallen through.
“We had an agreement with Lunenburg town council to have financing in place by February of this year,” he said, speaking by phone from Pasaro, Italy. “Unfortunately one of our main founding sponsors that we’d been counting on pulled the plug for financing.”
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LAMP was pitched as a hotbed for musical talent, matching up post-graduate music students with internationally-renowned expert musicians. Wathen touted it as a type of internship for young musicians — something not common in the industry.
Wathen said he had hoped to raise $4.6 million in six months to cover the first three years of operations.
The town is now in a difficult position.
She said this year the town has committed $250,000 to renovations, repairs and upkeep.
“We have to basically regroup and aggressively seek a new use for the building,” Bailey explained.
Wathen said he still hasn’t lost hope. However, his goal of raising millions in start-up money is now back to square one.
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