The Goddard College campus is back on the market.

The future of the grounds has been of intense local interest since the tiny Plainfield school announced in April that it is closing. In May, trustees said the campus, a former estate, was under contract with a buyer. But last week, Kenneth Macur, the school’s interim chief financial officer, released a letter saying that the campus and its trademark were available once again.

Macur’s letter, which was obtained by Cooperation Vermont, a group that has been trying to buy the campus, listed a price of $3.4 million for about 200 acres, buildings and other property. The letter said the deal must close between August 1 and August 15. The buyer must show they can pay the full purchase price at closing. The college will officially close at the end of the summer.



Macur did not return messages seeking more details.
Michelle Eddleman McCormick, a board member of Cooperation Vermont, said her group has been trying to buy the campus for months, but trustees have ignored its offers. Cooperation Vermont wants to use the property for an environmentally sustainable community and has pledged that campus tenants, including Maplehill School and Farm, Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism, the WGDR radio station, and the now-closed Goddard Café would be able to stay.

Cooperation Vermont also wants to build affordable housing and provide educational programs on campus. McCormick, who is the general manager of the Marshfield Village Store, said on Monday that she’s hopeful Cooperation Vermont will get another chance to bid.

But she added that the group can't even finish its $2 million loan application without a sales agreement, something it has been pressing trustees for since winter. Cooperation Vermont has raised $1.2 million in pledges "with just the hope of being able to make the purchase," she said.
McCormick expressed frustration with trustees' lack of responsiveness.

"Had they engaged with us in good faith when we approached them back in early March, we absolutely could have closed this already," she wrote in a message. "But they kept ignoring us and going with other potential buyers who they thought could close it faster and now here they are ... trying to get someone to close this with a cash offer in 2-4 weeks, which isn't going to happen with any buyer."

Goddard’s administration and trustees have released little information to the public since their announcement in late May that the campus was under contract.

Goddard was founded in 1938 as an experimental, nontraditional college and offered undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Until a few years ago, it also had campuses in Port Townsend and Seattle, Wash.

The college, accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education, announced in January that it would stop offering on-campus residencies and become online-only. When President Dan Hocoy announced the college would close altogether, he cited declining enrollment. Goddard had 250 students last fall, down from 340 in fall 2019.