Laurentian University finds buyer for former art gallery, despite protests that it doesn’t have the right to sell

The Art Gallery of Sudbury was forced out of the historic Bell Mansion in October, 2023, when a university engineer identified structural problems.

Laurentian University has found a buyer for a $1-million mansion in Sudbury, Ont., despite protests from artists who don’t believe the debt-laden institution has the right to sell the historic property.

The university confirmed this week that it has an offer for the Bell Mansion, former home of the Art Gallery of Sudbury, but declined to identify the buyer or the closing date. Previously, university president Lynn Wells has said the university cannot afford the repairs needed for the heritage home, which a citizens’ group renovated and donated to Laurentian as an art centre in 1967.

The university, which emerged from an insolvency plan in