Dan Hust | Democrat Closed since 2005, the Delaware Valley Central School was built in the early 1950s, and millions were spent after the Sullivan West merger to upgrade and maintain the facility. There are plans to transform the campus into a private international boarding school following an expected sale later this year.

DV deal inked

By Dan Hust
CALLICOON — April 16, 2013 — The former Delaware Valley School in Callicoon is one big step closer to becoming a private international boarding school.
Closed by Sullivan West in 2005, the 102,500-square-foot building is being eyed by the Flushing-based Windsor School, headed by Emily Yu.
Last week, Yu delivered a $58,000 check to SW’s escrow account and signed a purchase agreement with the district, followed by the SW Board’s unanimous authorization to sign as well.
The agreement spells out her intent to buy the campus for $1,160,000.
“We’re very excited,” SW Supt. Nancy Hackett confirmed on Friday, the day after the board vote. “The idea of having another school there is wonderful.”
Yu was unavailable for comment, but previous reports have indicated she hopes to open a branch of the Windsor School at DV, offering high school and college-level courses designed to prepare native- and foreign-born students for top American universities.
Yu is now in the inspection period, allowing her within the next four months to conduct due diligence and back out of the deal if she chooses. Unless she does not meet her obligations in the purchase agreement, Yu is entitled to the return of her $58,000 deposit if the sale does not go through.
SW is hoping for a closing by July or August. But the deal is also dependent on Yu reaching an agreement with neighboring property owner Richard Winter.
While DV would come with nearly 11 acres, Yu is also seeking an adjacent 56.61 acres for athletic fields and dormitories. Winter owns that acreage, having bought it from SW the year prior.
Winter could not be reached at press time, and the status of that deal is uncertain.
Yu’s agreement with SW also stipulates that she has to obtain a $400,000 mortgage loan within the next two months.
Finally, district voters theoretically could weigh in through a special vote on the sale, if someone were to submit a petition in the next month with enough signatures. (To date, no petition has been filed with SW.)
Hackett hopes the sale goes through, and not just because SW will be freed of a campus it no longer uses.
“We would like it to be a vibrant building again,” she affirmed.