Selectmen signed a one-year lease agreement on Monday with the Buzzards Bay Coalition, which will allow the nonprofit to transform a ramshackle Onset Bathhouse into a hub of marine recreation and education – open to all.

There’s some more work to be done; however, as a planned 99-year lease between the town and the coalition still requires Beacon Hill approval, due to a 102-year-old State Judicial Court decision.

In the meantime, coalition officials announced a new youth sailing program at Onset Beach this summer, providing a small glimpse of their ambitious hopes for the what will become the Onset Bay Discovery Center.

Plans call for a $5 million renovation of the bathhouse. When finished, it will serve as headquarters for a year-round, full-time staff dedicated to facilitating a myriad of water programs, designed to get kids exploring and falling in love with Buzzards Bay. Currently, the coalition has raised $2 million. Officials noted that an aggressive fundraising campaign is in the works.

Selectmen signed the lease at a special meeting, held on the bluffs overlooking the bathhouse. Selectmen Chair Peter Teitelbaum, Selectmen Alan Slavin and Judith Whiteside as well as Town Administrator Derek Sullivan, Buzzards Bay Coalition President Mark Rasmussen, State Sen. Marc Pacheco (D-Taunton) and State Rep. Susan Williams Gifford (R-Wareham) attended.

Slavin recalled the moment two years ago when Rasmussen approached him with the idea, saying he enthusiastically took up the cause after hearing the pitch.

Modeled on the Duxbury Bay Maritime School, the center aims to engage thousands of people of all ages in a variety of activities, including sailing, paddling, shellfishing, and shoreline ecology exploration.

For Slavin, he said the center’s inclusive nature is a major benefit.

“It’s doesn’t matter what your race is. It doesn’t matter what your economic status is,” said Slavin. “This will be open to everyone.”

As part of the lease deal, the town will have dedicated office space in the Onset Bay Discovery Center. Teitelbaum said local leaders are exploring options for what exactly the space will be used for, but haven’t settled on anything yet.

Pacheco and Gifford praised the project. At the state level, both are working to ensure that necessary legal maneuvers are completed for the 99-year-lease agreement, which requires a special act of the legislature.

While the town manages the parks and beaches it does not own the land, the formerly defunct Onset Bay Grove Association does. The company, which was founded in 1887 and dissolved in 1975, originally developed Onset Village. With the support of David and Skip Warr, the grandsons of the last president of the association, the corporation was revived and the lease was signed by David.

A special legislative act is required because of restrictions placed on the land by a 1915 court case. The outcome of the case required that the “parks, streets, avenues, paths, and shore fronts” in Onset were “dedicated to the public forever” for bathing, boating, fishing, parks and open space. The decree was accepted at Wareham Town Meeting in 1917.

Teitelbaum, a lawyer who researched the decree for a case he worked in 1999, explained that it restricts how the town may use the land pending legislative action.

Of the decree, Teitelbaum said: “It’s essentially a constructive public trust before they had a name for such things.”

Legalese aside, Rasmussen said the coalition is anxious to begin programs this summer, starting with sailing classes open to kids in the Wareham Boys & Girls Club Summer of Fun program.

“This will be the first time sailing classes will be offered at Onset Beach in decades,” said Rasmussen.

The bathhouse renovation is a part of what else the coalition has in store for Onset, Rasmussen noted. It is currently working to restore Wickets Island by removing invasive plants and rehabilitating the historic stone pier and staircase to make the island safe for programming and open public access. That restoration is planned for completion this year.

The coalition has also purchased Burgess Point, which will be an additional location for coalition-led outdoor exploration.

Pacheco described the overall plan as a “visionary proposal” that would serve as an economic engine for tourism in the area.