2 MCSD properties for sale, but neither is the one a board member called ‘embarrassing’
The sale of two surplus Muscogee County School District properties are on the agenda for Monday’s monthly meeting of the Muscogee County School Board, but neither one is the abandoned building that a board member called an embarrassing safety hazard.
MCSD superintendent David Lewis has recommended the board approve selling the former 30th Avenue Elementary School and the vacant one-room schoolhouse now called the Gentian Clubhouse but better known as the former Morningside Kindergarten.
The proposed sale price for the property at 151 30th Ave., comprising the 17,480-square-foot building and 4.76 acres, is $290,000. The pending buyer is Children of Higher Expectations Academy, a daycare and after-school program provider.
Two appraisals for the market value of the 30th Avenue property are attached to the agenda. The appraisal from Richard Moorefield Inc. of Columbus says the market value of the property is $405,000. The appraisal from Scott Boyce of Woodruff Brokerage Co. of Columbus is $357,000.
The Gentian Clubhouse is on 0.94 acres at 5408 Moon Road. The proposed sale price is $65,000. The pending buyer is Lint Head Investors LLC.
Two appraisals for the market value of the clubhouse are attached to the agenda. The appraisal from Boyce is $41,000. The appraisal from Moorefield is $120,000.
District 6 representative Mark Cantrell attended kindergarten there. It was used for classes from 1955 to 1978, Cantrell told the Ledger-Enquirer on Thursday. A church leased it from the school district for a while, and it’s been vacant for several years, he said.
But what sparked Cantrell’s concern during the board’s monthly work session Monday is the condition of the former Rosemont School.
“It’s a hazard to the community over there, and it needs to be bulldozed,” Cantrell said. “… I mean, rough is not even the word for this school. It’s embarrassing for the school district, and it’s a danger for the community.”
MCSD operations chief David Goldberg replied, “Yes, sir. You’re absolutely right. The city’s been on us about that.”
Although movie producers looking for interesting sites in Columbus like the property’s condition, Goldberg noted, MCSD is “bidding out” plans to demolish the building.
When a Ledger-Enquirer photographer visited the property along Acacia Drive on Thursday afternoon, the perimeter fence had an opening at the front of the school, where a sign declares “No Trespassing.” The front door was wide open. Part of the building was exposed from a 2016 fire. Windows were broken and open. Some bricks had fallen off the exterior. The grass was cut, but bushes were overgrown as high as the one-story roof line.
Mark Rice, 706-576-6272, @MarkRiceLE.
This story was originally published September 14, 2018 at 1:51 PM.