Iowa City school board votes to sell land to UI

The Iowa City school board Tuesday night agreed to sell the district's headquarters to the University of Iowa.

The board voted 5-0 in favor of selling the Central Administration Office building, 509 S. Dubuque St., for $4.5 million. Toni Cilek and Mike Cooper were absent

The UI has not made clear what exactly it will use the site for, only saying that it's related to the purchases it needs to make to accommodate its plans to relocate its flood-damaged School of Music facilities a couple of blocks to the north. The UI has said it does not plan to construct a building on the school site.

Two banks, MidWestOne and Bank of the West, located southwest of the intersection of Burlington and Clinton streets would need to be moved to make room for the UI's music buildings.

Details are expected to be announced at the state Board of Regents meeting next week.

No UI officials spoke at the meeting.

School board President Patti Fields said the Central Administration Office is too small for the district's needs and also is not in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The three-story building opened as an elementary school in 1917 but has been home to administrators since 1982. It also is the site of school board meetings.

City High parent Phil Hemingway, a frequent critic of the school board, suggested that the ADA concerns were not that great and said the school board should have tried to get more money for what is a prime piece of real estate just south of downtown.

“The first response from the school district was a little too enthusiastic,” he said.

Kirsten Frey, the district's attorney, said the $4.5 million offer was the result of negotiations and was the highest amount the UI could pay under a regents' policy that limits it to the maximum appraisal of a property. Frey said the school district property had undergone two appraisals.

The school board was to go into closed session at the end of the meeting to discuss its options for finding a replacement to the Central Administration Office.

Frey said the purchase agreement with the UI gives the district 90 days to find an alternative location for its central office and make sure it works financially, or it can back out of the deal.

Superintendent Stephen Murley has said the $4.5 million should cover the district's costs for relocating. He and Fields have said they don't expect the district to build a new facility.