04-24-1985 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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c) Related social, educational, recreational, and governmental services for young people, adults, and senior citizens are common multiple uses of buildings. d) Private uses of surplus school space, other than outright sale, are not very common. After the survey results were reviewed, school districts which reported the various dispositions or uses of surplus school space were contacted. On the basis of those contacts, a number of school districts were visited, and those districts are included as examples in the discussions of alternative uses of surplus school space which follows. For the purposes of this Guide, alternative uses of surplus sphool space will be categorized as (1) sale, (2) lease, (3) expanded use, (4) community school center, and (5) interagency agreement: 1.2 Sale The sale of school buildings has been one of the most common and most sought after solutions to the problem of disposition of surplus space. However, at- tracting buyers is often difficult since closed schools are frequently located in residential areas where zoning variances are difficult to obtain. In some instances schools are too old and unsuitable for occupancy without completing extensive remodeling, costs of which can reach $35 -$40+ per square foot and adversely affect its selling value. One of the more exorbitant costs in renovating older buildings occurs when attempting to make it accessible to the handicapped. Some schools have been sold for the land; thus, the schools were demolished. One caution by several superintendents was to avoid having a school standing vacant long after closure. "School closings are traumatic; you certainly don't need the empty, boarded up reminder staring at folks," said one superintendent. In a report by the American Institute of Architects, it was noted that moth- balling is costlier than leasing. "It is costly to prepare a building for total vacancy (and) it is costly to maintain it in that state. It invites vandalism and soon deteriorates into a neighborhood 'eyesore.'" A Minnesota example of a school facility sale is Marshall High School in Minneapolis, which is becoming the Minneapolis Technology Enterprise Center. The business focuses on providing services to technology oriented small busi- nesses. Marshall's being located close to the Untversity of Minnesota was especially attractive to the buyer because of both potential clients and the research orientation of the university. Two other schools, Hopkins Junior High in Hopkins, MN, and Whittier Elementary in Minneapolis, were sold and converted into apartments. The Minneapolis School District has found school sales to be the Most effective avenue for disposition of space unless there is an anticipated need for later reuse. The advice of several district administrators consulted was: 1) plan early for surplus space reuse or disposition and 2) seek competent legal assis- tance, an architect, and an appraiser, all of whom should have experience in coping with the unique problems encountered in the reuse or sale of a closed school. 49 4