Cedar Rapids school district to sell flood-damaged facilities

The Cedar Rapids school district celebrated the beginning of its new District Services Center Monday with a ceremonial groundbreaking – but that doesn't mean administrators have forgotten the buildings the center will replace.

Steve Graham, the district's executive director of business services, told school board members in April that a cost-benefit analysis revealed it would cost the district $256,764 to maintain ownership of the buildings during the construction of the District Services Center.

The cost to dispose of the buildings, and lease storage space, will be $484,000 to $619,695.

“Clearly, the right decision is to stay put until we move to our new facility,” Graham said at the meeting.

The Educational Service Center, the ESC Annex, the carpenter/paint shop, the main warehouse and the food service warehouse were damaged in the June 2008 flood. The buildings have been cleaned, but remain unused except for storage.

The district will eventually sell the facilities. Already, several parties have made inquiries.

“We have had expressed interest in one form or another to all of our facilities,” Superintendent Dave Benson said. “We're keeping a file of those individuals or corporations who have expressed an interest. At the right time, we will dispose of that property in accordance with our legal requirements."

According to state law, the district isn't required to obtain appraisals or follow a sealed-bidding process when selling the property. The only requirement is that the district hold a public hearing before the sale, lease or disposal of any district property.

“Our intent is to provide these facilities up for community reuse,” Benson said.

Money received from selling the facilities would go into the district's school infrastructure local-option sales tax fund.

The new facility will house about 200 district employees in 27 departments. Since the flood, these departments have worked in two locations: temporary facilities in the parking lot at Kingston Stadium and leased space at 931 Blairs Ferry Rd. NE.

The district pays $13,639.16 per month, plus utilities, to lease the Blairs Ferry space. FEMA covered the cost of the Kingston facility and reimburses the district for the lease fees.

The estimated cost of the District Services Center is $44.5 million. The Federal Emergency Management Agency will cover $12.465 million. Remaining costs will be paid from school infrastructure local-option sales tax funds.

The district must complete its new facilities by May 27, 2012, in order to cash in on FEMA and state recovery financial assistance.