The prospective buyers of Goddard College, the small liberal arts institution in Plainfield that closed its doors earlier this month, hope to maintain the historic buildings and restore the gardens so that the space can be used for conventions and other public gatherings. The Greatwood Project, as the buyers are known, expects to close on the 131-acre campus at the end of October, project member Lucinda Garthwaite said on Monday. The group needs more money to close the $3.2 million deal, but Garthwaite said she doesn't know exactly how much more is needed. There is strong community interest in the future of the land and buildings, and alumni and locals have peppered the potential buyers with queries since the group’s involvement was announced several weeks ago. Garthwaite said she planned to answer two of them at a community meeting on Tuesday. “The big questions coming from Plainfield are, ‘Do you plan to help us with housing? And do you plan to pay property taxes?’ Garthwaite said. “The answer is ‘yes.’” [content-1] The Greatwood Project is part of a Vermont nonprofit called Collective Well Foundation and is seeking its own nonprofit status, according to member Kris Gruen. Its founders include Chris Pratt, a former Goddard forestry instructor who lives in East Montpelier and whose family name is on the college’s Eliot Pratt Center, a building that includes the campus library; Garthwaite; part-time Vermont residents Susan and Brian Benninghoff; and Leesa Stewart, the former Goddard CFO who now works as CFO at the Vermont Food Bank. A document about the project on Collective Well's website describes a plan for sustainable and energy-efficient housing that will yield revenues for the community. "Designed to foster connection and collaboration, the residences will incorporate intergenerational living, with generous community spaces for education, recreation, and collaboration," it says. But Garthwaite acknowledged that construction expense has made it difficult for even seasoned developers to build homes in central Vermont. In recent days, the Greatwood Project has sketched out plans for alumni that would see the college’s popular Haybarn theater and manor house back in use once again. “Our vision is for a bustling, busy campus again — filled with day-to-day living, work, creativity, learning and play that honors the legacy of the property as a college and a farm, its critical role in the central Vermont community, and its transformative impact on thousands and thousands of lives,” Garthwaite…