Features:
- The property was neglected after “white flight” left a majority non-white student body. A splinter school district was redrawn to exclude people of color from the new school being built half a mile away, and the original school has not been maintained since then.
- The last 20 years of yearbooks, trophies, student records, and memorabilia from the mostly non-white students are stored in a leaking attic room. The new owner will be responsible for disposing of them.
- Asbestos ceiling tile is sealed in with plastic sheeting and duct tape. Works well.
- A new $35,000 furnace, bought after the school was slated to close, resulted in matching money for the nearby white school. The furnace is not hooked up and is not adequate for the needs of the building. However, the contractor who sold it to the district would be happy to buy it back from the new owner for 5 cents on the dollar.
- A brand new outbuilding on the site, with state-of-the-art climate control, is being used as textbook storage for the white school district. Half the outbuilding houses extra copies of the superintendent’s vanity press memoir School Real Estate King. The outbuilding is being sold separately.
- Lead paint, mold, and other environmental health hazards will be the responsibility of the buyer. While these issues were allowed to fester when they impacted students of color, Federal dollars are now available for developer remediation.
- Five acres retained from a recent sale of playing fields to a chemical factory are part of the property.
- The original caretaker from the 1960s still lives in a basement apartment with his children, grandchildren, white supremacist paraphernalia, and six Pitbulls. It may be tricky to evict him legally.
The structure is sound, and beautiful architectural details survive throughout. High ceilings and generous windows conveyed a lofty sense of purpose and promise for white students back in the day. By contrast, the new gold-plated splinter school is actually quite ugly. (See Why Campus Vanity Buildings Get Built.) That school will be for sale in a decade when an upcoming deal provides funding for yet another new school.
Bids are being accepted from qualified buyers. The ideal candidate will demonstrate knowledge of kickbacks, grafts, and insider trades. In exchange for silence on the shadier aspects of this deal, the new owner will pay a ridiculously low price for the property, which is ripe for industrial development. Knowledge of Pitbulls is a plus.
Also Read: Unloved Campus Building Poem