Iowa City school board to discuss headquarters move

The Iowa City school board Tuesday night will discuss where it wants to relocate the district's headquarters.

The owners of several pieces of property already have offered up their land as a possible new home for the Central Administration Office, Superintendent Stephen Murley said Friday. That's counting sites with an existing building on them, he said. There also have been inquires from developers with vacant land, but the district is unlikely to build a new facility because of the cost, he said.

The school board voted last month to sell its central offices, 509 S. Dubuque St., to the University of Iowa for $4.5 million. The UI plans to move to the school site businesses that are on land where it wants to relocate its School of Music

Murley could not go into specifics – and Tuesday's discussion will occur in closed session –  but he said the sites being offered for the new central office location are spread throughout the community. When the idea of moving has come up in the past, the general desire was to remain in Iowa City proper, although Murley said he was not sure if those feelings had changed.

Murley on Tuesday will ask the board for permission to undertake environmental impact studies on property the district is interested in.