Trying to track down a rumor that the school district will be getting the building at 1700 West Front Street for one dollar! It made me look up an old blog post on school facilities, which states the Schools Construction Authority purchased the former office building for $6 million and spent $19 million renovating it. The building was meant to serve as a "swing school" for student populations displaced while schools were remodeled or new ones constructed..
From the 2010 post:
The first swing school occupants were Clinton School, while $16,941,299 in renovations took place at the original site.Emerson School students relocated there while a new community school was built at a cost of $36,033,893. Both student populations have since moved into their new or improved locations.
Emerson School, 2008
The SCC got into difficulty with its budget and after an investigation was replaced by a new entity, the Schools Development Authority. The idea was to put the "swing school" building back on the tax rolls once all the construction was complete
Jefferson School was the last school to relocate to the swing school, but by that time their old school had become the administration building, so there was no new school to reoccupy. Others in line were Woodland and Cook, both of which have been on the SDA active projects list for some time. .
If the school board does acquire the building for $1, it would certainly be a bargain, but would preclude a return to the tax rolls.
Here is the complete "School Facilities Recap" post, which also mentions the wished-for new middle school that never materialized.
Meanwhile, if anybody has more information on the status of 1700 West Front Street, let us know!
--Bernice
No information on the status of the purchase, but that group of buildings were part of National Starch and Chemical Company that employed hundreds of area residents. The one story building was part of National's research.and development division called Alexander Labs. Alexander Labs developed food starches that are used currently in many products including the food additive in M & M's that makes the color coatings adhere to the chocolate.
ReplyDeleteThe property was purchased for $1.00 and the Lieutenant Governor will be here tomorrow for a ribbon cutting ceremony. 1800 W. Front St., right next to Jefferson school, was also purchased for $1.00. The Lieutenant Governor will be visiting both locations.
ReplyDeleteBoth buildings that currently occupy Jefferson and PAAAS were purchased for $1 as well as a smaller building on the same side as Jefferson. There will be a ribbon cutting ceremony this Friday with the Lt Governor coming at 12:30 to see performances by the PAAAS students. In addition, the smaller building is envisioned to be a place where PPS students could go to take advanced classes in technology. At first it may be just for the PAAAS students, but students at PHS/BOACCD could possible attend too once logistics are worked out. In addition, the vision is for the smaller building to be its own entity in the future if I understand correctly. With, "Center" as part of its name.
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