Green Mountain College in Poultney closed in 2019. Green Mountain College photo Big questions are hanging in the air since whiskey tycoon Raj Peter Bhakta put the former Green Mountain College up for donation with the requirement that the recipient have a particular mission. Green Mountain Co llege shuttered in 2019 after declining student enrollment, leaving Vermonters wondering what would come of the Rutland County campus anchoring Poultney’s downtown. The college’s closure came as a blow to the town, but Poultney has since turned its focus to revitalization efforts, including hopes to make the town a hub for mountain biking and outdoor recreation. Bhakta, known for founding the Vermont-based company Whistlepig, bought the 155-acre college campus for $4.8 million in 2020, with original plans to set up a sustainable agriculture initiative. Bhakta’s goal with the campus eventually morphed into a vision for a resort with some residential development. After six years of holdups, Bhakta is leaving those plans behind.  Reported by Seven Days in February, Bhakta has changed course, now intent on giving the college campus away to a Christian faith-based organization that has a mission “aligned with the revival of the United States and Western Civilization.” This must first begin with the spiritual resurgence of the Christian faith, according to the donation website. Proposals to take on the campus property are due March 31, and Bhakta plans to choose the winning bidder by April 28.  But, the gift comes with a catch. A new owner would have to have the finances to bear the price of operating the estimated 115 acres of the campus property. That cost is estimated at $1 million annually, plus an additional half a million in deferred maintenance. When Bhatka arrived in town, Poultney residents felt a sense of cautious optimism that he would revitalize the campus. Poultney is again waiting in anticipation for the future of the campus at the end of their downtown block, said President of the Poultney Chamber of Commerce Leah Romine. “We were hopeful when he bought the college that he would do something significant with it. He had a lot of big plans, but unfortunately, those didn’t come to fruition,” Romine said. “Now that he’s leaving, I think most of the residents of town are, you know, concerned about what’s going to come in.” Bhakta’s spokesperson Andrew Lohse said there have been more than 100 inquiries and around 30 active applications as of mid-March from universities and religious organizations, including at least one from Vermont and several from New England. Bhakta has not ruled out granting multiple groups parcels of the property to ensure the gift is financially viable, Lohse said. The call for proposals saw increased attention after Fox News, the New York Post and the Daily Mail all wrote stories about the opportunity for Christian organizations to acquire the property, Lohse said. According to those stories, Bhakta estimates it will cost $200 million to restore the campus.  Lohse said Bhatka is evaluating contenders on “fervor, courage and capacity,” meaning both the financial means to steward the campus and a mission to bring society back in line “what’s good and true in the world.”  In the past 20 years, the United States has seen a push toward liberal progressive values like multiculturalism and religious pluralism, which is in opposition to “conservative Christian understanding of what a good and moral civilization looks like,” said Sarah Riccardi-Swartz, a Northeastern University assistant professor and anthropologist focused on civilizationism.  Through organizations like The Heritage Foundation and Turning Point USA, Riccardi-Swartz said those on the religious right have invested in academic institutional spaces, nonprofits and think-tanks to counteract what is viewed as a decline of the “Christian idea of Western civilization.” Bhakta gained notoriety even before his plan to donate the college received national attention. Prior to acquiring the old college campus in rural Vermont and running current business Bhakta Spirits, Bhakta was ousted from the popular whiskey business he founded, Whistlepig, after fraud allegations were levied against him. Bhakta appeared as a contestant on President Donald Trump’s former reality show “The Apprentice,” and ran for a Pennsylvania congressional seat in 2006. As part of his political message advocating for border security to prevent undocumented migration, Bhakta pulled a political stunt, riding an elephant with an accompanying mariachi band on the Rio Grande.    Poultney real estate broker Suanne Ohl was excited for Bhakta’s vision and to see “new life breathed into the campus” in 2020, and was disappointed by the news that the campus will change hands. But Ohl said she is sure Bhakta will make the donation decision for the benefit of Poultney. But, other residents like James Johnson, owner of downtown Poultney bike shop Analog Cycles, are more skeptical of Bhakta’s pivot, after the mogul was locked in a yearslong property tax negotiation with the town. The donation to a religious-affiliated organization will ensure the “town will never see any tax money,” Johnson said.  Tax dispute Bhakta once had plans to convert the campus into a destination 93-room hotel with 18 residential condo units, according to his company’s Regenerative Land Holdings LLC Act 250 permit application, which was withdrawn in September 2025. The Act 250 application had a “persistent ‘incomplete’ status” in late 2024, according to email records between town official Sarah Pelkey and Raj’s spokesperson Dan Norwood.  The town of Poultney and Bhakta were locked in a multi-year negotiation over a tax stabilization agreement for the campus property. Deal-making efforts hit roadblocks over the 10-year assessment of the property value and what buildings would be included in the tax stabilization agreement.  Under the different iterations of the agreement, Bhakta’s company Regenerative Land Holdings LLC and subsidiaries would pay a quarter of a percent of revenue for 10 years. The agreement was contingent on the hotel completion in five years. Poultney Town Manager Paul Donaldson denied comment for the story. Bhakta’s grievances with the town of Poultney over the property tax assessment of the campus property landed in the Vermont Superior Court in Rutland in 2024. Bhakta argued he was being taxed too much after transferring property between two companies he said he owned. The town disputed those claims.  Following the donation announcement, Bhakta’s lawyers filed a motion to dismiss the case in March. The town of Poultney and the Vermont Attorney General’s Office, as an interested party, asked that a full market rate appraisal of the campus property be completed as a condition of the case’s dismissal, according to recent filings.  Lohse said Bhakta’s former and future plans for the property have benefits for the town.  “We all know that in Vermont it’s difficult to do commercially viable development projects, and really to think big,” Lohse said. “Some people wanted prosperity. Some people in Vermont don’t want prosperity.” Poultney’s revitalization When the Green Mountain College shuttered, residents were concerned about the aftershock of the economic and social loss to the local community. Poultney residents were working toward strengthening the local economy prior to the Green Mountain College closure, said Sarah Pelkey, former community development coordinator for Poultney and current director of economic development for the Chamber and Economic Development of the Rutland Region. “Poultney was very active in planning for its recovery from the loss of the higher education institution,” Pelkey said. “The community was deeply involved in its own revitalization in so many ways.” In Green Mountain College’s final years, the student body had dwindled and the college was in dire economic straits, so the college community had become more insular despite its location downtown, said Johnson. In the meantime, the Slate Valley Trails were being constructed, which now include 50 miles of bike trails across Poultney, Wells and Castleton. The outdoor recreation opportunities have drawn more people to visit the small town bordering New York state and frequent the growing number of restaurants and shops downtown, Johnson said.  The population over the past several years has remained stable and local business is thriving, because people are engaged and want Poultney to be successful, said Romine. Poultney’s Library Director Rebecca Cook said residents have been busy building up recreation opportunities, tourism and making sure the downtown storefronts are open while the community has been waiting to see Bhakta’s plans unfold. Cook said she is optimistic the town is “going to be okay no matter what.” Read the story on VTDigger here: Whiskey mogul plans to donate Poultney college campus to a Christian group to ‘revive Western Civilization’. ...read more read less