By mutual agreement, Martha’s Vineyard Community Services has taken ownership of the renovated Luce house for permanent use by the Family Center. The dormant Seminars, formed in 1976 to provide lectures and college-level courses on the Vineyard, will no longer exist.

In 1976 Thomas Goethals opened an institute of higher learning on North William street in Vineyard Haven, vowing to bring to the Island the same sort of cultural self-reliance that was enjoyed in so many other areas. For more than two decades the Nathan Mayhew Seminars served that purpose, offering world-class lectures and partnerships with leading universities. But in recent years the organization has sputtered; its board has aged; its modest campus has fallen into disrepair. Now, two Islanders hope to revive the nonprofit.