Madison Elementary School in Manitowoc. PC: Fox 11 Online
MANITOWOC, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — The Manitowoc Public School District is closing Madison Elementary School and selling the property to the city.
In April, Mayor Justin Nickels discussed what’s next for the site.
“One thing that we will do after we officially get the property is go out for [request for proposal]. We’re going to look for it, see what developers are interested in this site and what they could do with it,” said Nickels.
As for what ideas the city has in mind, Nickels said, “Nothing concrete, but we know it’s a valuable piece of property, and we know it’s in an established neighborhood. The neighbors understand it as a beautiful green space, and it’s right along the lakefront. So, there’s a lot of different things that we could talk about.”
You’d think a large property with a view of Lake Michigan would sell for more than $1. So, why did the district give it away for so little? While that idea might seem puzzling on the surface, the district and board agreed it’s the best option.
“We’re not going to tax you as a city to buy this from the school district. The school district isn’t going to take money from you, and then have to tax you additional funds to rip the building down,” said MPSD school board president Biff Hansen.
And while the district may only receive $1 from the sale, it saves upwards of $1.5 million for the demolition of the building.
“We’d still have to tax for that additional money to bring the building down, and that’s not to say there isn’t asbestos or other things that were used in building during the 50s,” said Hansen.
The district has also been paying between $5,000 and $6,000 a month to maintain the building.
Hansen said the district is focused on raising test scores and providing the best education for its students.
“If we’re spending part of that money to hire a company to take care of that land for us… It just didn’t make sense to the board,” he said.
Board members also said school districts aren’t in the real estate business.
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