The bankruptcy trustee overseeing liquidation of assets of the former Southern Vermont College said this week he is encouraging any interested parties “to submit signed offers” for the campus real estate or other property, the Bennington Banner reported. Raymond Obuchowski, the court-appointed trustee in chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings for the former college, represents the estate of the former SVC corporation, which voluntarily entered the process in August. “As it stands today, I don’t have any signed agreements for the purchase of the assets,” Obuchowski said on Wednesday. He said that the real estate to be dispersed includes the 371-acre campus and buildings, the Gate House building at the entrance drive on Monument Avenue in Bennington, and the former Bennington Center for the Arts off West Road, which was donated to the college in 2017. The center’s founders, Bruce Laumeister and Elizabeth Small, have since filed suit, seeking to annul their gift, but that action in Bennington Superior Court Civil Division apparently remains on hold pending decisions in the chapter 7 case. The Gate House building was also, like the arts center/theater, donated to the college and has likewise been marketed separately in real estate ads.
