When the Emporia USD 253 Board of Education meets on Wednesday night it will have two offers on the table for the Lowther buildings.
But there’s a question of whether it’s legal for the school board and school district to consider another offer when the board accepted a bid on the buildings last week.
The $200,000 bid that was accepted last week was contingent upon two things: That the business replaced the business check it provided with a cashier’s check and that the two parties have a mutually-agreed contract. The school district has the $10,000 cashier’s check.
Superintendent Theresa Davidson said the board has not signed a contract at this point and could legally entertain another offer.
She said the school district is trying to make sure everything is done legally and has talked with the school board attorney.
Davidson said a verbal commitment was made to the firm last week. She also said that’s a concern because the district wants to make sure its word is good among the businesses it works with.
Initially three firms submitted four offers for the buildings. One company pulled its offer last week and the school board said it was not interested in another offer, which included the contents of both buildings in the purchase price.
That left the school district with a $200,000 offer for both buildings from Foutch Brothers, LLC, of Weatherby Lake, Mo.
Now a group of community members have come forward to put in an offer on the Lowther buildings.
The Emporia USD 253 Board of Education voted at its Jan. 26 meeting to place the Lowther buildings for sale. It received four bids from three firms in April.
New offer
John Mallon, an Emporia businessman, said after last week’s special board of education meeting an Emporia couple came forward and offered $200,000 to purchase one of the buildings.
According to the bid compiled by the group of community members, the no contingency bid offers $200,000 for either Lowther North or Lowther South, to be determined by the buyer within 10 days, with a right of first refusal on the other building for a period of two years.
The buyer, which is a group called the Lowther Building Fund, will professionally winterize the other Lowther building and pay for electricity, lighting, and a sump pump. That will give the school district and the community time to find the best use for the building.
The Lowther Building Fund, a fund of the Emporia Community Foundation, is made up of community members who care about the buildings, Mallon said.
They intend to use the building they purchase to become a home for community non-profit and humanitarian organizations, as developed by a concerted effort of multiple local philanthropists.
Mallon said the group is working with area non-profit organizations to see who needs space in one of the Lowther buildings.
A handful of community members spoke at last week’s board of education meeting, asking the school board to delay making a decision on the buildings.
After that request was denied, Mallon said the Emporia couple called him to chip in $200,000 to buy one of the buildings.
The couple is not being named right now, though Mallon said they will be in the near future.
During last week’s meeting the school board discussed whether the district had a bid that met all the requirements set forth in the district’s notice of intent to sell the buildings.
None of the companies that placed bids on the Lowther buildings initially provided the district with a certified or a cashier’s check.
Mallon said he’d like the school board to take the community group’s offer seriously or to start the bidding process again.
Foutch’s offer
Steve Foutch of Foutch Brothers said his company’s plans for the buildings are for mainly market rate apartments, and also keeping both gyms and auditoriums in service for rental to anybody.
Foutch said a bunch of office space will also be available.
“We are problem solvers who specialize in saving historic structures, so we are wanting to solve the demand and supply equation for what the community needs and what the buildings can supply and yet still keep them in near historic/original condition,” Foutch said.
Other schools for sale
A representative from the State Department of Education and the Kansas Association of School Boards each said that their organization does not track the sale of school buildings in Kansas.
There’s no way to know how many schools have been listed for sale in recent years or what they sold for.
A KASB representative, though, said some schools have been listed for sale on eBay. One 30,000 square foot building sold for $25,000 while another Kansas City, Mo. area school sold on eBay for $49,500. It was 43,000 square feet.
School board members have said in the past that many school buildings in the state are either given away or sold for $1.
Lowther North is 91,827 square feet and Lowther South is 71,280 square feet.
reddog (K. B. Thomas Jr.) says...
Shop Emporia First.
May 10, 2011 at 1:10 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
hottopics (anonymous) says...
Well said. John Mallon has put nothing but his best interest in this community. Thank you John for seeing this opportunity to further improve this town.
May 10, 2011 at 6:35 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
busybody (anonymous) says...
I think they should stick with the first offer they agreed on - it is only fair. They at least have a plan for the buildings - apartments,etc. All I can see from this other group's plan is a building that will stay empty - there are already plenty of empty buildings around for philanthropic activities.
May 11, 2011 at 6:41 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Summer_Breeze (anonymous) says...
I can't help but wonder why John Mallon and his group weren't organized enough to submit a bid on deadline as the other bidders did. I also wonder what legal repercussions there could be if the school board reneges on the deal they've already made. Oh, one more wonder--why didn't the school board defer making a deal when they knew Mallon and others were trying to come up with a plan?
May 11, 2011 at 8:18 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
methusla (anonymous) says...
My question is . If , " The buyer, which is a group called the Lowther Building Fund, will professionally winterize the other Lowther building and pay for electricity, lighting, and a sump pump."
What will be the cost of " professional winterization, electricity, lighting and a sump pump " and is this all that is needed to make one building viable for continued use, was the School Board snowballing, decieving or just plain spinning a line of B.S. about the cost of making the two buildings viable for further use as schools ? The School Board put out a figure of 3 to 4 or more million dollars, to bring the buildings back to viable use as schools. Was this figure a truism or exagerated figures to justify the spending of $3 + million dollars on an addition to EMS ? I wonder !
Seems to me there are still some questions about just how above board business is being conducted by
the so called leaders of Emporia, a lot of business ethics questions .
It would seem that there is a lot of " Pulling the Wool over the Eyes " of the public going on in the Emporia leadership community . Having said that I believe that approving a $3+million dollar addition onto EMS should be tabled / mothballed /killed until some straight forward and truthful answers about how Federal Stimulus (taxpayer funded ) grant money was spent and why the Federal Grant money was used for an outdoor playground " rug " instead of all of it being put into the upgrading of existing school " BUILDINGS " instead ?
A lot of questionable business decisions that have been made by the School Board, City and County Commissions, over the past few years and recently need to have some straight forward and truthful answers and the people who are paying the bills ( the taxpayers ) deserve to know the answers to those questions, before paying for any thing else or paying any increased taxes, that can' t be afforded .
This is exactly why our elected City, School Board, County leaders need to be held accountable to the taxpayers who elected them, as well as the way they conduct the public/taxpayers business needs to be totally transparent and this is also true for any and all businesses or organizations that recieve taxpayer funds of any kind.
It would seem to me that there is/has been a lot of just plain deciet, bamboozeling and smoke and mirror politics going on over many years in Emporia . And that is why, City, County , taxes, taxpayer debt has been rising faster than local wages and jobs.
And that is also why the local population has been declining and will continue to decline.
The road to ruin is easy and down hill all the way, once you start to decend down that road. The road back up that hill is more arduous and is sometimes longer and a more difficult journey . I know this from personal experience.
May 11, 2011 at 11:17 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
reddog (K. B. Thomas Jr.) says...
Methusla, very good post.
May 11, 2011 at 2:39 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
reddog (K. B. Thomas Jr.) says...
In Real Estate, it's location, location, location. And these buildings are at the heartbeat of our city and we should not have to take a haircut from out of town white shoe developers.
May 11, 2011 at 2:46 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
railroadhorn (anonymous) says...
Love it that Methusla is back posting on this site. I don't always agree but I think the media in this town need to do a better job at reporting these issues. Why can't we have some background on the questions Methusla is raising in terms of shuttering the Lowther buildings? What were those figures? I know some of them because I went to the board and looked them up. This is one meeting I'm not going to miss!
May 11, 2011 at 2:56 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )