Charleroi School Board considering 2 proposals for downtown property
CHARLEROI – Charleroi Area School Board has two proposals on the table for disposing of the district’s former football stadium and a rundown downtown building it received in a donation.
The board voted unanimously Tuesday to accept an option from Stone & Co., Inc. for the former Atlas building, located at Second Street and McKean Avenue, and the nearby stadium property. District Superintendent Ed Zelich said Stone & Co. has a concrete plant nearby and it wants to expand.
The other option under consideration is a proposal by the Monessen-based Mon Valley Alliance economic development group to receive both properties as a land grant in exchange for securing the money to tear down the condemned Atlas building, Zelich said.
The board will wait for 45 days before making a decision on which proposal to approve.
John LaCarte, vice chairman of the Mon Valley Alliance, approached the board Tuesday, saying federal and state money is available for razing the Atlas property.
“We would like to develop the property to create jobs and a recreational area for the community,” LaCarte said.
Zelich said the goal is to use the property to create jobs.
“It’s beyond the money,” Zelich said. “It’s about the best interest of the community.”
In other school news, the board approved a driver’s education summer program with a per student fee of $120.
The board approved the purchases of: business and finance textbooks, $2,705; high school biology textbooks $14,229; and middle school math textbooks, $38,934.
Beth Hope-Cushey contributed to this report.