Milford officials announced Wednesday that they are considering a proposal to breathe new life into an old, vacant building.

If approved by the Milford Board of Aldermen, a culinary arts center would fill the inside of the Stowe Barn, which has been vacant for the last 14 years.

A group of preservationists in the city are against the proposed cooking school. They say the city spent more than $600,000 to save the barn in 2002 and don't want to see it change.

Tim Chaucer is leading the fight against the cooking school. He says the roof and siding of the barn has recently been repaired. He wants the inside of the barn to remain as is, so children today can see how a barn was built in the pre-Civil War days.

"It's a museum inside and out and unfortunately if there was to be a cooking school in there, it would destroy all those architectural elements," says Chaucer.

Supporters of the cooking school attended a public hearing Monday, saying the center would stimulate the economy and bring in business to the Walnut Beach area in the offseason. 

"We feel that fine cuisine and the cooking school fit perfectly into that concept," says Dean Fisher, of Milford.

The mayor says an agreement has not yet been reached.