Center still may be years away.On Wednesday, the Cape Cod National Seashore formalized an agreement with the Truro-based Payomet Performing Arts Center that will allow the theater group to erect a large tent at the Highlands site - a former Air Force station - where it will stage plays and spoken word programs and hold drama classes during the 2006 season.
''This is really an example of turning swords into ploughshares,'' said Guy Strauss, Payomet's managing artistic director, during a signing ceremony at Highlands. ''Because this was a Cold War base to protect us from the Russians. And it worked, obviously, they never made it.
''But it's actually exciting that we can turn this into a peaceful, artistic, scientific adventure for everybody,'' Strauss said.
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Highlands Center, North Truro
What it is: The center, a home for nonprofit organizations devoted to the arts and sciences, is a former Air Force station. It is owned by the federal government and administered by Cape Cod National Seashore.
 1951: The North Truro Air Force Base is built. It houses up to 500 personnel.
1958: The base is designated the 762nd Radar Squadron.
1985: The now rundown military base is decommissioned. A single radar dome, operated by the Federal Aviation Administration, remains.
1994: The site is transferred to the National Park Service.
Jan. 1999: The Cape Cod National Seashore announces plans to convert the 126-acre base into the Highlands Center for the Arts and Environment.
Sept. 2003: Four tenants are selected by the National Park Service for the Highlands Center. They are the Center for Coastal Studies and the Fine Arts Work Center from Provincetown, the Payomet Performing Arts Center in Truro and the Barnstable County Commissioners/AmeriCorps Cape Cod program.
Oct. 2003: P.J. Layng of Wellfleet, founder of the Provincetown International Film Festival, is hired as deputy executive director of Highlands Center Inc.
2004: Brian Rosborough becomes the new president and chief executive officer of Highlands Center Inc.
April 2005: Robert Ciolek is named the new executive director of Highlands Center Inc. Rosborough, the former director, plans to act as a consultant to the organization.
June 2005: Cape Cod National Seashore officials announce that Highlands Center Inc., in partnership with the National Park Service, will be the managing partner of the proposed arts and science center under development on the site of the former North Truro Air Force Station.
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Payomet will pay the park service a $5,000 fee for the 2006 season, he said. The agreement is renewable each year for up to five years.
Payomet is one of three program partners who have signed letters of intent with the National Park Service to rehabilitate and lease structures at the Highlands Center. The theater group hopes to re-tool a 5,400-square-foot building on the site and create a theater complex.
A $1.5 million capital fundraising campaign is in the planning stages for the building renovation project but has not yet begun, Strauss said. Up until this year, Payomet has operated out of a big tent located just off Route 6 in Truro. Other partners at Highlands include Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown and AmeriCorps Cape Cod.
But it's been slow going at the 110-acre site, abandoned by the Air Force in 1985, transferred to the National Park Service in 1994 and now under the management of Cape Cod National Seashore. Park officials envision nonprofit science, arts and educational organizations rehabilitating existing structures at the site and setting up shop.
Approximately 25 to 45 buildings are available for re-use at the site, with a total square footage of between 75,000 and 135,000 square feet.
''For those of you (who) have been familiar with the Highlands Center site here, you know that we've been waiting a couple of years - well, actually a lot of years - to actually see activity here,'' said National Seashore Supt. George Price. ''We feel that this is really an important future spot for the Seashore and for the Outer/Lower Cape.''
And there have been recent infrastructure developments at Highlands Center that will hopefully encourage prospective partners, said seashore planner Lauren McKean, who reported that work is under way on a $900,000 water and sewer project at the site.
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On Stage
Performers and speakers scheduled for the 2006 season under the Payomet Performing Arts Center tent include:
Sebastian Junger
Stephen Kinzer
Comedian Barry Crimmins
Events that celebrate Shakespeare, Gershwin and Louisa May Alcott.
On the Web
www.hcitruro.org
www.ppactruro.org
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Several rehabilitated buildings are also set to open in the near future. The National Seashore's Atlantic Research Center, occupying two buildings on the site, will likely be up and running by fall.
Highlands Center, Inc., the not-for-profit managing partner that is working with the Seashore to develop the site, also hopes to open a welcome center in 2007.
''We would love to get a major educational institution in here as an anchor,'' said Deborah Magee, development director for Highlands Center, Inc. ''This would be an incredible opportunity for a research organization that is looking for a place where they can work and live, because we're hoping to rehab some of the housing here as well.''
But for summer 2006, officials are hoping Payomet's big tent creates a buzz at the Highlands Center. ''Until people see folks walking around out here, it's hard to really get the vision,'' said McKean. ''I think they'll start to get it this summer.''
Eric Williams can be reached at ewilliams@capecodonline.com.
