Administrators of Hamilton City Ballet say they can turn the former Dundas District School into an arts school with professional ballet company, if the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board will play fair.

Max Ratevosian, a ballet master from the National Ballet of Canada, and Andy Stocks say the school board doesn't seem interested in entertaining their plan for a new arts school that would include a professional ballet company and full academic program, plus studies in music and theatre.

"Will the board work with us? We need to dialogue," Mr. Stocks said. "We're trying not to be Pollyannas, or naive."

Mr. Stocks said he already has financial backers interested in the plan, but with no information forthcoming from the board, he has nothing solid to pass along to his supporters.

"We have a vision," Mr. Stocks said. "My goal is to bring that to fruition. I need to know if they are willing to work with us."

Last week, almost two years after first expressing their interest in purchasing Dundas District, the two men were still trying to arrange a meeting with board staff, find out if the building was for sale, and get an idea what asking price is.

But Dundas school board trustee Jessica Brennan said a new surplus school protocol recently passed by the board should improve the process. Dundas District and Central Park school properties will soon go to a secret public tender. What's different this time around, according to Ms. Brennan, is the board will advertise the school properties publicly and even contact people who have shown interest to let them know they have a specific period of time to make a secret offer.

"Our new protocol calls on us to be more transparent," Ms. Brennan said.

She said a more open tendering process should prevent people from being caught unaware of a school property's sale.

While the board is free to accept any offer it wishes, including lower bids from community-based groups, Ms. Brennan acknowledged there is pressure to grab the biggest offer, regardless where it comes from.

"We don't get capital funding from the ministry (of education)," Ms. Brennan said.

But she noted trustees do have complete discretion in what bid they accept, and can consider other aspects of bids beyond the amount of money offered.

Previous board sales of closed schools at Pleasant Valley and University Gardens to high bidding housing developers have caused controversy in Dundas.

In University Gardens, a joint community-Montessori school-city bid to purchase the building was tossed out in favour of a bigger offer.

Ontario Education Ministry spokesperson Patricia MacNeil confirmed the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board has satisfied all the province's regulations and is now free to dispose of Dundas District and Central Park in any way they see fit.

The board is not required to accept fair market value for the two properties, and the ministry will not review any aspect of a sale.

"They have incentive to get the best price possible because they can use it to fund capital projects," Ms. MacNeil said.

Ms. Brennan isn't sure when the public tender for the Dundas properties will be advertised, but she said a period of about four weeks should provide potential bidders a chance to research the property and come up with an offer.

The board will not reveal its own private appraisal of either property's value.

It's not clear where that might leave groups like Hamilton City Ballet as it prepares to do battle with unknown housing developers for Dundas District School.

"I do believe I can raise the money for the building - that's what I do," Mr. Stocks said. "Raising the money is not an issue. Managing it is the challenge. We will need a partner."

Mr. Stocks, who has a background in the film and television industry, said he has interested financial backers in the education and medical research fields.

"We'd like the board to say they are interested in working with us. We need time," he said.

The goal is Mr. Ratevosian's vision for a new professional ballet company, and arts school with a full academic program.

In an interview last week, Mr. Stocks and Mr. Ratevosian agreed there is room in Canada for another professional ballet company. They noted the National Ballet in Toronto passes up about 10 talented dancers for every one they accept. Some of those dancers could come to the arts school in Dundas.

"It will be a combined program of ballet and academics," Mr. Stocks said.

"It's not just ballet," Mr. Ratevosian added. "It's all art. I have education and experience. I can see all the potential in this place. These aren't just words."

Mr. Ratevosian began dancing in his native Russia as a nine-year-old boy. He graduated from a ballet academy in St. Petersburg, then a state university in Moscow with as a Ballet Master, Teacher, and Choreographer.

He toured extensively as the principal dancer of the Moscow State Ballet Theatre, where he also taught ballet, for 20 years.

Mr. Ratevosian came to Canada in the early 1990s to teach and dance in Montreal, soon moving to the National Ballet of Canada. He had been travelling across Ontario, teaching not only in Toronto at the national school but at Mississauga, McMaster University, and Waterloo.

Along with his partner, dancer Melania Pawliw, Mr. Ratevosian opened his own school in downtown Hamilton in 2001. The James Street North space is already too small, and Hamilton City Ballet hopes to expand their vision into a broader arts and academic school.

Dundas residents, Mr. Ratevosian and Ms. Pawliw have a nine-year old daughter.

Mr. Ratevosian's vision includes professional dance festivals and performances here in Dundas. He said scholarships to study at the school would be available to children whose parents couldn't afford it.