[FONT=Verdana]Animal rights activists declared a victory for bats yesterday, after the town delayed today's scheduled demolition of the Center School.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana]I feel like we've kind of won a reprieve," said Cheri Ezell-VanderSluis of the Maple Farms Sanctuary in Mendon. "I feel like Bellingham has been kind of receptive to our pleas."[/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana] However, Bellingham, MA Town Administrator Denis Fraine said a scheduling conflict with the demolition company's hauler actually forced the delay, not the plea from bat advocates.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana] "I don't think there's a colony there," Fraine said. "I don't think this is quite the issue that they thought it was."[/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana] The 130-year-old building, which for the last few decades was home to some municipal and police offices, has been vacant since new municipal offices opened behind it last fall.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana] Vacant, that is, except for a colony of bats some believe live in the attic.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana] Ezell-VanderSluis, a Mendon resident, has been working this week with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and Bat World Sanctuary, a Texas-based bat organization, to stop the demolition, allowing time to save the bats.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana] The Wrentham's Dowling Corp. took the Center School demolition project off its schedule yesterday, and plans to do the job next weekend, said employee Lynda Cyr.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana][/FONT]