Mashantucket — In a bid to leverage its 'underutilized' space, the sprawling Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center has approached two school districts that have space needs, neither of which has taken it up on the offer.

At least not yet.

New London school officials had “initial discussions” with museum officials months ago and “made a couple of visits there,” Manuel Rivera, the New London superintendent, said.

“We were sort of excited about it, but we came to the conclusion that it was not in our best interest at this time,” he said.

School officials in North Stonington also have heard from the museum, whose executive director, Jason Mancini, contacted the Ad Hoc School Modernization Committee early last month and later appeared before representatives of town boards.

The museum has offered to have North Stonington Board of Education members tour the facility.

“As a North Stonington resident and parent of daughters who attend our public schools, I’m very familiar with the ongoing discussion about our schools’ facility and maintenance needs,” Mancini said in an email. “Through conversations with neighbors and friends, I’ve found that many are intrigued about the concept of utilizing our museum space academically.”

He said the museum is offering North Stonington schools “exclusive academic space,” including libraries, conference rooms, classrooms, art spaces and offices, as well as a restaurant/cafeteria, staff cafeteria, a 327-seat auditorium and other areas.

The museum, which opened on the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe's reservation in Ledyard in 1998, encompasses 308,000 square feet. According to Mancini, about 60,000 square feet are “underutilized,” up to 35,000 square feet of which are appropriate for school use. 

Lori Potter, a spokeswoman for the Mashantuckets, said the tribe hopes “to maximize the use of underutilized space, while building relationships with organizations that align with our vision and values."

“For example,” she wrote in an email, “Selectman Nick Mullane recently stated he wants to explore ‘cost-effective’ options to meet the town’s educational needs. We see this opportunity as a win-win situation for everyone involved, because it builds a positive relationship between the tribe and neighboring towns, embraces an organization that aligns with our academic values and maximizes the use of our state-of-the-art facility, and in exchange, we are offering a very cost-effective solution for North Stonington.”

Robert Carlson, the North Stonington school board chairman, said he would “reserve judgment” until he has seen the museum facilities.

Both Carlson and Rivera, the New London superintendent, said there are potential obstacles to locating school programs in a facility in another municipality.

“The town voted a few years back to keep our students in town when a school-of-choice option was investigated,” Carlson said. “Second, the (museum) buildings are on tribal land and therefore would not come under the jurisdiction of either the North Stonington Board of Education or the Ledyard Board of Education.”

Rivera said legal questions were among his biggest concerns about busing students out of New London.

“It’s way too risky to make that kind of leap without having answers,” he said.

b.hallenbeck@theday.com

Twitter: @bjhalleneck