AUBURN – City leaders plan to again tour the Great Falls School to weigh whether it ought to be saved.

On Monday, city councilors traded opinions about the aging building, a 53,000-square-foot complex that houses the Community Little Theatre, the Edward Little High School Drama Club and several smaller organizations.

The talk was meant to follow up on the findings of a study released last fall, that the building needed to be more aggressively managed. Eventually, the old-but-sound structure would need millions of dollars in renovations, the report said.

Councilors agreed to let City Manager Glenn Aho form a group to examine the building and re-examine the associated costs.

“We have all the time we need,” City Manager Glenn Aho told councilors. “We don’t have to spend a dime until it’s time to spend.”

Costs were the focus of the discussion.

The city’s informal management of the building led the complex into the red, costing more to maintain than it earns in rent, consultants said last fall. The losses are in the tens of thousands of dollars annually.

Consultants said stronger management with higher rents and greater oversight of its space could make the building financially independent.

That must happen, Councilor Daniel Herrick said.

“What’s the cost to the city?” he asked. “It needs to stop bleeding us.”

Councilor Ronald Potvin agreed, saying the building needs to be self-sustaining. He also said the building has suffered from neglect “year after year.”

With a solid long-term plan, the center could begin tapping grants and foundation money, he said.

Money could be found, said Doreen Traynor, executive director of the Community Little Theatre. But no foundation or grant awarding organization will consider giving her institution money until a long-term lease is agreed upon.

Traynor said she was encouraged by the council’s reaction Monday, particularly in comparison to a meeting earlier this month. Councilors had assumed they were being asked to spend millions of dollars.

They weren’t.

“At least they’re going to look at the study,” Traynor said. “It’s a good study.”