Owatonna nixes plan for current OHS
In a unanimous vote, members of the Owatonna School Board rejected the lone proposal for repurposing the existing high school, once the new facility opens this fall.
Two weeks ago, a citizens’ task force presented the recommendation to the school board at its work session, suggesting the district “proceed with (its own) project on its own timeline.”
The district plans to retain ownership of the C plaza, the gymnasium/locker rooms and the VoAg building, using them for district offices, the gymnastics program, maintenance and other support areas.
The remaining portions of the campus will be demolished; the green spaces there now will remain.
Board Chairman Mark Sebring asked for a motion and second, then allowed for further discussion of the issue.
Elizabeth Hedlund, the newest board member, said she would have rather had “a multiple choice” decision – for example, rejecting the proposal to turn some of the buildings into apartments, a performing arts center, meeting and convention space and more – but not moving ahead with demolition.
“The primary reason the two are linked is simply because the school bond issue to build the new school passed several years ago,” said Sebring, and the district waited nearly two years for a proposal about how best to use the existing school after it’s vacated.
“A couple of realities are, there was but one entity that came forward, at least with a viable opportunity that was worth considering,” he said. “In the time since, when the task force looked at this building, it was a unanimous decision from a cross-section of 25 people from Owatonna … we are very respectful of that.”
The other reality, Sebring said, is cost.
“It’s a two-fold financial noose, if you will,” he said, the first of which is maintaining a building that’s not occupied.
“The second is, every day, the cost of demolition continues to go up … and from the time the school bond passed to today, those costs have gone up measurably,” possible double, Sebring said.
“I go back to what (task force members) said: The first words out of their mouths during (the work session) presentation were, ‘we all wanted it to work,’” said board member Jolayne Mohs. “’We were all hopeful we could figure something out … and it just didn’t work.’”
They didn’t “kick the can down the road with the maintenance, and there was nobody else that came to the table,” Mohs said, “so I think they did a really good job. There was probably a level of grief that that group went through throughout the process, realizing they couldn’t make it work. I respect the time and appreciate the dedication they had, and I think the reality is, they made the correct choice.”
Hedlund asked if historic preservation groups were considered or consulted.
Yes, said Superintendent Jeff Elstad – and it was the developer behind the lone proposal the district received.
“One of the partners owns a company that restores buildings,” he said. “Part of the funding within the proposal was their best guess if historic tax credits could be used toward the project – and none of that was guaranteed.
“The sense of the task force is (the developer) just didn’t have the financing behind them to make sure it wasn’t going to leave the district of the city of Owatonna in the lurch, should that fall through,” Elstad said.
Board member Lori Weisenburger also thanked the task force their work, and said despite her own appreciation of history and “old spaces, I also recognize there comes a time when you have to make choices.”
She had the final word before Sebring called for the vote.
“That green space has a future,” Weisenburger said of the century-old campus. “This is still an amazing piece of land, and I’m excited to see what might come of it.”