AUBURN — City councilors agreed to step back in and take control of the former Great Falls School, clearing the way for a new party to further develop the building.

Chris L’Hommedieu, president of Community Little Theatre, said he hopes to announce a plan for the building soon.

“The framework is something we are incredibly close to tying up,” he said. “I’ll put it in these terms: The future to the gateway of Auburn looks very bright.”

The item was not listed on the agenda for Monday’s special meeting but was the subject of an executive session. Councilors emerged from the backroom and voted to approve a new lease with CLT.

The new lease keeps the theater group in place for $1 per year. The new developer will be required to pave the parking lot west of the building and that will be owned by the city. The developer will also be required to build a second floor over the gymnasium for the theater group’s use.

The city owns the lot and the building, the site of the old Great Falls School. City councilors signed a 99-year lease with CLT in August 2011, giving the group control of the building. The city demolished the western wing of the old school, leaving the unpaved parking lot.

The eastern section of the building is home to the theater and its costume storage space, the gym and some offices.

L’Hommedieu said his board negotiated with a developer last year, only to have questions of parking kill the deal.

According to L’Hommedieu, the developer would have taken over the theater group’s sublease with the city to build single bedroom or efficiency apartments on the building’s top floors. The theater would continue to occupy the bottom floor, converting the building’s gym into a two-story workspace, costume storage and public gallery.

The plan called for building a second three-story building in the parking lot with up to 30 units.

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