Ringgold prepares to sell closed Finleyville school
FINLEYVILLE – Ringgold School District opened the doors to a closed school in Finleyville Thursday to gauge interest from developers who might be interested in the prime real estate location in Union Township.
There was only one person by 10:30 a.m. to tour the former Ringgold Middle School, which closed in January when its students were relocated to a new school in Carroll Township, said Randy Skrinjorich, director of operations and financial services for the district.
The district had earlier reached out to developers who agreed “the best thing to do is demolish the building,” which was built atop pyritic soil that swells and has caused the walls and floors to shift, Skrinjorich said.
The building, which dates to the 1960s, was given a value of $750,000 by Valbridge Property Advisors, a national company specializing in commercial property valuations, district records show.
The district owns 33.3 acres at the site along Route 88, property that includes a number of ball fields the district wants to keep. The 115,000-square-foot building also has been deemed safe for occupancy, Skrinjorich said.
But the building likely contains asbestos, according to the Nov. 7 Valbridge report.
Skrinjorich said the property is attractive because it is close to the Mon-Fayette Expressway, South Park, Peters Township and Jefferson Borough.
He said the district may offer the site at public auction as the district did with schools in Monongahela and Donora, sites that have not been redeveloped. That is not expected to happen to the Finleyville school, he said.