Culture Minister Dale Butler said last night Government might be prepared to buy a Hamilton building which houses a dance school for young people.

He told The Royal Gazette he planned to talk to his Cabinet colleagues about how to prevent Alexandrina Hall the home of United Dance Productions on the corner of Court Street and Reid Street from being demolished to make way for a condominium hotel.

Mr. Butler said the greatest legacy the owners of the building could leave to the Island as it approached its 400th anniversary was to sell the building to Government.

It was reported yesterday that students at United Dance Productions an after-school and weekend dance school were devastated after receiving a letter from landlords, the Grand United Order of Oddfellows Lodge, informing them that the building had been sold to overseas developers.

But Mr. Butler said he had spoken to lawyer Leo Mills, chairman of the lodge's trustees, who advised him the deal was not yet complete.

Mr. Mills told this newspaper yesterday: "We are in the process of negotiating the matter. Nothing is signed." He said he had spoken to Mr. Butler but would not comment on whether the lodge would consider selling to Government.

"At this time we are not prepared to make any further statement about the matter," he said.

Mr. Butler said a Special Development Order (SDO) approved by Cabinet for the ten-storey Stonehaven Development Condominium Hotel did not include Alexandrina Hall.

"The first question I asked was 'does this involve Alexandrina Hall?'," he said, referring to the SDOapplication going before Cabinet. "It did not contain anything about Alexandrina Hall.

"He said he had since discovered the building was not listed, which concerned him as he considers it of historical importance. "It used to be the most vibrant business and entertainment facility owned and run by blacks," he said.

"That was a keystone in the City of Hamilton. Dances on a Saturday would take place there. There was weddings. My mother was married there.

"The Minister said he wished United Dance Productions had approached him as soon as they discovered in early January according to a report in the Bermuda Sun that they were being given three months notice of eviction. The school has been in the building for 17 years.

He said he sent a letter to founder Suzette Harvey yesterday on the matter. She could not be contacted last night by this newspaper.

Mr. Butler said organisations such as United Dance Productions were worth "a hundred times" the youth rehabilitation efforts of his Culture and Social Rehabilitation Ministry, as they helped keep young people on the right track.

"We get rid of organisations like these and we are going to end up spending a hundred times more," he said.