The Brewton City Council on Monday authorized Mayor Yank Lovelace to negotiate a lease with the committee that has been working to establish the John L. Fisher Community Center at the old Brewton Middle School.

The council held a public hearing during a packed city council meeting — the room was filled with residents on hand to support the lease. No one spoke in opposition to it.

“There have been a lot of good people working hard on this,” Lovelace said. “I’m glad we’ve seen it come this far.”

The next step will be getting tenants for the building.

The city has had possession of the building since the city school board moved out more than two years ago. Some of the buildings were demolished over the summer, but the media center and some of the classrooms and the office remain.