For more than four years now, the Columbus Municipal School District has been trying to sell the 96,350-square-foot Lee Middle School property.
During Monday’s meeting, the board voted to open bids on the property, and it will be interesting to see if the district can attract a buyer that will return the property to the tax rolls, which would be the ideal outcome.
The only known group showing interest in the property is the Lowndes County School District, which sees it as a potential site for the county’s new career tech center, part of the district’s master plan funded through a $44 million bond issue passed in May.
The primary appeal for the county school district is the property’s location. Lee Middle is located on Military Road and 18th Avenue North, just off the Highway 82 bypass. Access to the property from two nearby exits on the bypass makes the location convenient for students as they travel from their campuses in Caledonia, New Hope and West Lowndes.
The county school board is expected to vote to submit a bid on the property at its Friday meeting.
If that happens it will be the second prospective buyer for the property since the Columbus school district vacated the school in 2011.
Three years ago Point of Grace Church submitted a bid of $175,000 for the property.
The bid was rejected because it did not conform to state regulations that govern the sale of school-owned property. That could be a sticking point in the county school district’s efforts as well.
Even at the time Columbus Schools vacated the 62-year-old facility, it was taken for granted the building would have to be demolished.
The Lowndes County School District is expected to submit a bid that would cover the cost of demolition, which the city school district would be responsible for handling.
Whether that bid would meet state regulations is uncertain. The Point of Grace bid was rejected because state law prohibited the stipulations the church requested.
It is interesting to note the two potential buyers have one thing in common: Both are tax-exempt, which means the city would not collect property taxes from either.
Ideally, the property would be sold to a commercial or residential developer, whose efforts would generate property taxes and be a net gain for the city.
But no such developer has emerged to date and none are known to be on the horizon.
While selling the property to the county school district is not the ideal situation, there is still an argument to be made for the sale.
Lee is one of a handful of surplus properties the city school district is trying to sell. As is, the district is responsible for maintenance on facilities it doesn’t use, need or want.
Beyond that, empty buildings have a negative impact on surrounding properties. They create a negative impression of those areas and, psychologically, communicate a message of decline.
We believe a new state-of-the-art career-tech center built on the Lee property would raise the profile of the area and might stimulate growth there, even if it doesn’t directly contribute to the tax base.
Selling the Lee property to the county school district might not be the best possible outcome, but it well may be the best available outcome given present circumstances.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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