West Greene may have buyer for former school
ROGERSVILLE – West Greene School District appears to have found a buyer for its former Springhill-Freeport Elementary School.
The district filed a petition Friday with the Greene County Court asking the court to approve the sale of the building on Deep Valley Road for $75,000 to Springhill Township.
The district has been attempting to sell Springhill-Freeport and Graysville elementary schools, both of which were closed in June 2015.
All district elementary classes were consolidated at the start of the 2015-16 school year at the new elementary center which was constructed at the middle-senior high school campus.
The district is required by state law to receive court approval for the sale of the building, Superintendent Brian Jackson said Monday.
A Springhill Township supervisor could not be reached Monday for comment on the township’s plans for the building. However, Jackson said he believes the township might want to use the school for a community building.
The school at 1055 Deep Valley Road was constructed in 1952 and includes 5.994 acres of land.
The district listed the building with Northwood Realty in April and entered an agreement of sale with Springhill Township for the property on June 23, the petition said. The township’s offer was the only offer received by the district.
Affidavits from two real estate appraisers, Kyle McCown and Gwenn Nicholson, both indicated the $75,000 offer for the property is “fair and reasonable,” based on the building’s condition and the need for asbestos remediation, the petition said.
“The board believes that the record of its efforts in this matter demonstrates that the proffered purchase price is better than could be obtained at public sale,” the petition states.
A hearing is requested on the proposed sale.
The sale will include the two modular classrooms now on-site. It will not include the baseball field, concession stand and bleachers. Those will be retained by the district.
“We’re working with the New Freeport Little League Baseball program on continuing access to the field,” Jackson said.
Graysville Elementary, which was constructed in 1970, still remains for sale. A listing on Northwood Realty’s website shows the asking price for that building is $225,000.
The district is now investigating possibly having the building reassessed to make it easier to sell, Jackson said. The property is currently assessed at $7 million. With that valuation, any private business that wanted to buy the property would face a pretty hefty tax bill, he said.