The selectmen approved a one-year lease agreement with two, one-year options to renew.
WILBRAHAM - The Board of Selectmen voted 3 to 0 on Friday to continue leasing the old Memorial School to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield for use by Cathedral High School.
Cathedral High School has been leasing the old Memorial School since the June, 2011 tornado made its building on Surrey Road in Springfield unusable.
The diocese will pay the town $360,550 per year to lease the building from the town.
The selectmen approved a one-year lease agreement with two, one-year options to renew.
Selectmen had sought proposals for the lease of the building and received only one proposal - from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield has asked parents to remain committed to Cathedral High School as the diocese continues to fight for a higher insurance settlement to rebuild the tornado-damaged building on Surrey Road.
Diocesan consultants calculated that it will cost approximately $70 million to build a new school for Cathedral.
Catholic Mutual, the insurance company for the diocese, citing its own consultants, estimated the structure, built in 1959, could be repaired for $15 million.
Mark Dupont, spokesman for the diocese, said the diocese is awaiting a ruling from an arbiter.
The decision could be received at the beginning of July, Dupont said.
“We haven’t heard yet,” Dupont said Friday. “We’re expecting to hear at any time.”
For the last two years the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School Committee leased Memorial School for use by Cathedral High School, but selectmen negotiated an agreement with the School Committee to take back control of the building.
The School Committee voted to close Memorial School, which was an elementary school, several years ago due to declining enrollment and budget constraints.
The Board of Selectmen has directed the School Committee to present a detailed plan for the building needs of the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District for the next 10 years by June 2014.
