CORNWALL-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. -- Normally this time of year at the New York Military Academy in Cornwall-On-Hudson, the campus would be filled with students but instead things are quiet, as the boarding school hasn’t opened for the school year.
“NYMA has been there for 126 years, it has been [Cornwall-On-Hudson community's] jewel and their crown. Now they’re (NYMA) looking at having it bulldozed,” said Brian Tourville, an almnus of New York Military Academy.
School officials said the school hasn’t opened for the year because it is still working out a deal with a California investor to buy the school.
The school filed for bankruptcy in March and is now waiting for a down payment of $1.3 million from the investment group to keep it from going to auction on September 30.
Tourville said it’s a problem that could have been avoided had the school followed up with fundraising company CCS, which Tourville said was willing to help.
"These are the people that oversee The Metropolitan, Carnegie Hall [and other] large venues across America and also internationally. I had provided the contact information to Mr. Desa and I had spoken with the state department regarding their assistance to recruit foreign students and they were more than helpful. Mr. Desa never followed up."
Tourville said he’s working to save the school from going to auction but time is running out.
“I’ve got to find a lawyer today, I have to have a lawyer today write a petition, the bankruptcy judge in Poughkeepsie, stay this auction,” said Tourville.
Dean of Academics Mika Saarela said the school is trying to get the down payment from the investment group as soon as possible in hopes of saving the school from going to auction.