Manitowoc’s former Jackson Elementary School is now up for sale.
The district’s Finance and Facility Committee asked the full board on Tuesday to approve a 60-day window to see whether it gets offers for the building.
While the district still doesn’t want to get involved in the real estate business, Superintendent Lee Thennes says he thinks it’s a good idea to see if there is interest in the land.
Board Member Chris Abel then moved to change the 60-day window to an open invite, meaning MPSD can accept offers from interested groups for as long as they see fit.
He doesn’t want to limit what the district could do if they run out of time.
“I think simply saying that we are inviting everybody who’s interested in the property to look at it,” Able explained. “I think we’ll get people. I’m just concerned that a 60-day window may set an end of something that we really didn’t want.”
MPSD Board President “Biff” Hansen doesn’t want to see what happened with McKinely Elementary School, where the building sat vacant for years before something was done with it.
He joined the majority voting 3-2 on the amendment.
The board then voted unanimously to announce the property is available to interested parties.
Board Member Mary Lofy Blahnik said she voted in favor due to the costs the district is paying by keeping the school.
“That every month we are paying for insurance (and) utility costs,” she noted. “Although I voted in favor of this amendment, I also don’t want us dragging our feet.”
A memorandum from MPSD Director of Business Services Nathan Mielke states it would cost the district a little more than $2.4 million to demolish the school, which was part of the district’s updated Long Range Facilities Plan.
Jackson and Madison Elementary School were decommissioned earlier this year as part of an MPSD plan because of a declining student population and millions of dollars in needed repairs across the district.
