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By Tom Westman
Staff Writer
At its Monday, Nov. 26, meeting, the Annandale School Board agreed to a
two-pronged approach in dealing with the fate of the 1922 wing of the
Annandale Middle School. The school board will put the building on the
market to be sold and at the same time, gave its blessing to a citizens
group that will conduct a re-use study in an attempt to sell the
building instead of demolishing it. The board also agreed that the
Community Education Building should also be put on the market.
Re-use study
The Citizen Committee to Save the '22, headed
by Rose Mary Nelson, Laura Hood Beckman and Jill Bishop will commission
a re-use study to determine what, if any uses could be found for the
building which is no longer needed by the school district.
According to Bishop, re-use studies cost between $5,000 and $14,000,
with funds coming from grants or local donations. Bishop emphasized that
"there would be no school district funds spent on this study. Private
donations have been lined up to fund the study."
The Citizen
Committee to Save the '22 has been in contact with the State Historic
Preservation Office, which is a branch of the Minnesota History Center.
SHPO works with communities and local citizens to conduct studies of
vacant, threatened, and under-used historic properties to identify a
range of potential new uses. These studies explore new uses for the
buildings by assembling a group of experts that engage in an orderly,
informed process to help decide the property's future. In the process of
the eight-month study, every attempt is made to find potential buyers.
One to two months are needed to get the study started and then there
is an on-site phase that takes three to five days and it takes another
two to four months to compile data and write a report. The re-use team
includes design professionals and specialists in marketing, building
construction and conservation.
"The process will get underway in
January," Bishop said.
Board endorses study
The
school board endorsed the re-use study proposed, giving the group 13
months to do the study and find a buyer. If the school district or the
re-use study does not find a buyer by the Dec. 2013 board meeting, the
1922 building will be demolished in July 2014.
Annandale Schools
Superintendent Steve Niklaus indicated it was important that the board
endorse the re-use study.
"The group will need assurance from the
board that they have all of 2013 to get the study done and find a
buyer," Niklaus said. The board unanimously approved a motion endorsing
the re-use study.
Speaking on behalf of the committee Bishop
said, "We are very happy to get the board's approval for the re-use
study. While this formal process doesn't guarantee saving the building
from demolition, the team of re-use study experts give it the best
possible chance."
Legal advice
The school board
directed Niklaus to get legal advice on how to best seek Requests For
Proposals, or RFPs, to purchase the Community Education building and the
1922 wing of the middle school.
A motion made by board member
Bryan Bruns and seconded by Katie Howard Jones, authorized the
Superintendent to spend up to $5,000 for the legal guidance.
"Obviously, the 1922 building is a far more complicated sale as it is
and will continue to be connected to the (middle) school," Niklaus said.
School board member Mike Dougherty expressed concern about who would be
purchasing the 1922 building saying, "We need to define what would be an
appropriate use, as we will lose control once we sell it."
Bruns
indicated that some citizens have expressed concern about selling a
building that would be attached to an existing building.
"There
are buildings on Main Street where the businesses share a common wall. I
do not see it as a problem," Bruns said in response to those concerns.
On the market by spring
Niklaus said the final form of
the RFP process will need board approval but it is unlikely to be ready
by the Thursday, Dec. 20, meeting. However, Niklaus added that the
process would still be discussed at that meeting.
"The buildings
are more likely to be officially on the market in the spring as we will
continue to need the CE building up until August and now that there is
nothing planned for the 1922 building this summer, it is not so time
sensitive," Niklaus said.
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