Trinity to sell Laboratory school
Trinity Area School District is poised to sell the former Laboratory Elementary School, pending court approval.
The school board in May voted unanimously to begin to sell the building and 3.7-acre property to Kelsall Properties LLC, conditional on approval by the Washington County Court of Common Pleas. The selling price is $200,000.
Under Pennsylvania law, the district and developer are required to petition the Court of Common Pleas to approve the sale.
A hearing is scheduled for July 31 at 9 a.m. before Judge Michael Lucas.
The plans for the site by the development company were not clear, but school administrators said the buyer, Thomas Kelsall of Claysville, had discussed converting the school into apartments.
A phone call to Kelsall Properties was not returned at press time.
According to the sale agreement, the building and property cannot be used for the public or private education of students in grades K-12, or the building will revert back to the school district.
According to Washington County real estate records, the building has an assessed value of $1.73 million while the land is valued at $392,500.
Trinity ceased using the old school in February 1995. For several years, the building at 99 Manse St. in South Strabane Township and adjacent to Billy Bell Park, was leased to Intermediate Unit 1 for educational programs until July 2022, when the regional education agency moved to its McMurray campus.
Since then, the school district has paid insurance and maintenance costs for the school building and grounds.
The district’s petition for the sale of the building shows that two independent real estate appraisers inspected the property, which requires asbestos remediation, and both concluded the purchase price is “fair and reasonable, and is a better price than could be obtained at public sale.”
Said Dr. Donald Snoke, Trinity Area School District Assistant Superintendent, “This agreement is an excellent agreement. We’ve had two other firms, as required by law, that looked at the offer and looked at the building and determined that that was a fair and appropriate price. Right now, it’s sitting dormant and we’re paying to maintain utilities, so there are still costs with it but there are no benefits with it.”