ROCKPORT — The Rockport Chamber Music Festival bought neighbors Gary and Marcia Puryear's private residence for $1.2 million to settle a lawsuit that could have blocked construction of the festival's Shalin Liu Performance Center.
Terms of the settlement were finalized this week, prompting festival officials to release the details.
As a result of the settlement, announced last month at Town Meeting, the festival has acquired 39R Main St., a private residence next to the downtown site where the $17.5 million performance center will be built.
According to festival Chairman Thomas Burger, the residence was purchased from the Puryears for $1.2 million thanks to an interest-free loan to the organization from an anonymous individual.
The town most recently assessed the property value at $750,000, but Burger said the Puryears came to the negotiating table months ago seeking a $2.25 million buyout. The Puryears and their lawyer, Philip Posner, have consistently denied the $2.25 million request.
However, that argument is moot, as the purchase of the property effectively terminated the lawsuit in state Land Court brought against the festival and the Rockport Board of Appeals last fall by the Puryears. The festival can now move forward with the construction, avoiding what Burger described as "substantial additional costs for legal fees" and "construction delays that would have resulted from continuing the lawsuit."
Posner confirmed the $1.2 million settlement yesterday.
"Both parties are satisfied with the results," he said. "I believe, and my clients believe, good planning yields good results, and that's always to the public's benefit."
Posner said the property sale and deed were recorded Monday, the same day the lawsuit was dismissed.
Burger said the lawsuit was thrown out with prejudice, meaning the same type of lawsuit cannot be brought again at a later date.
Attempts to contact the Puryears at their Concord home yesterday were unsuccessful.
Although the festival is a tax-exempt, nonprofit organization, Burger said it intends to pay real estate taxes on the house. Burger said the festival plans to rent the property over the next three years, and to sell it after the performance center opens.
Assuming further progress on its fundraising campaign, work on the new 325-seat center could begin as soon as October with demolition of the three-story Haskins Building at 37 Main St., site of the former Madras Shop.
So far, $11.6 million has been pledged for the project, largely by Cape Ann individuals and foundations. The capital campaign to build the center continues and has recently received a $750,000 challenge grant to match gifts and pledges from new donors.
According to Burger, the center's $17.5 million cost reflects design and construction as well as permanent endowments to provide for perpetuation and improvements of the facility and support for the festival's educational component.
However, overall costs are expected to rise because the lawsuit resulted in a one-year construction delay. Burger would not speculate yesterday how much that would be, but did say the festival was rebidding the project and should have more up-to-date estimates by mid-to-late July.
Burger said the new handicap-accessible building will also "be well-suited acoustically and architecturally for recording sessions, business conferences and the like."
The third floor will feature a large reception space that will be available for educational, civic and social events.
Alan Joslin of Epstein Joslin Architects of Cambridge is principal-in-charge of the building design. R. Lawrence Kirkegaard of Chicago — an internationally known acoustician for concert hall and performance spaces — will oversee the acoustic design. Joslin and Kirkegaard, collaborators on music venues for over 17 years, played key roles in the design of Seiji Ozawa Hall at the Tanglewood Music Center in Lenox.
"We're pleased with the settlement," Burger said yesterday. "We wish it could've occurred last August, but these things sometimes take time."
Jonathan L'Ecuyer can be reached at jlecuyer@gloucestertimes.com.
