Connellsville Area School Board approves sale of former South Side Elementary
CONNELLSVILLE — The Connellsville Area School Board agreed to the sale of a former school building.
School directors have voted unanimously to sell the former South Side Elementary School, located at 1135 Race St. in Connellsville, to 3 R’s LLC for $5,000.
The former school closed at the end of last school year.
Robert Geletko, assistant to the superintendent for finances and operations, said no minimum bid was set for the property and subsequently received no bids when the district advertised its sale.
“Because we went through the advertisement of South Side twice and no one bid, through school code we were able to negotiate offers (for the property),” said Geletko.
3 R’s LLC was the highest responsible bidder for the property.
Geletko said the 32,401-square foot property had received appraisals of $173,000 and $145,000 from Franklin John Realty of Uniontown and Valbridge Property Advisors of Pittsburgh, respectively.
While the sale price is considerably less than the two appraisals, said Geletko, the sale constitutes a savings for the district.
“It costs $43,000 a year just to keep the building as far as insurance and utilities and security and random upkeep,” he said.
According to Geletko, the district previously sought proposals to demolish and abate the building, which totaled about $200,000.
“That’s (money) we didn’t have to spend to abate it. It’s $43,000 in utilities we will not have to pay,” he said.
Geletko said the property will hopefully return to the tax rolls with 3 R’s LLC tentative plan to put apartments on the site.
The sale must be approved by the Court of Common Pleas of Fayette County.
According to a resolution read by board President Francis Mongell, the sale is being made with the support and cooperation of the Connellsville Redevelopment Authority and Connellsville City.
3 R’s LLC and district maintenance staff will remove existing playground equipment. District personnel will remove any systems controls from the building prior to demolition, stated Mongell.
The board voted earlier this year to close four of the district’s eight elementary schools, including South Side, following the completion of the 2016-17 school year to cut costs in the wake of declining enrollment. South Side enrolled about 260 students at the time of its closing.
In September, school directors agreed to the sale of the former Dunbar Borough Elementary School property to CRH Catering for $327,000.