Old school to be purchased by local builder

Terms have been reached for the sale of Center School.

An agreement to sell the old school building and property in Grand Coulee was reached at a special school board meeting Tuesday.

The sale price was $155,000 — $5,000 more than the amount asked for by the school board at previous offerings.

The site is to be purchased by a group headed by builder Nic Alexander, who owns Coulee Construction, and the sale was managed by former school superintendent Dennis Carlson. Carlson handled the sales effort during the two advertised offerings the district tried.

Center School sits on an 8.3-acre site in the middle of Grand Coulee and was vacated when Grand Coulee Dam School District consolidated its three schools into its new education complex in Coulee Dam, Lake Roosevelt Schools.

“There is so much potential there,” Alexander said of the Grand Coulee property Tuesday night, reached by phone.

He said that he and Ian Turner have been researching the property and its potential for some time.

Ian Turner is the son of current school district Superintendent Paul Turner, one reason why Carlson, a past superintendent, has been handling the sale to avoid any conflict of interest, Alexander noted.

He and Ian Turner have toured the building with an architect to flesh out the potential.

“Ian and I have had an intent in developing quality housing in the area,” he said, adding that some form of senior housing may be in the mix, although that’s still unknown.

Grand Coulee’s planning commission chair, Tammara Byers, said that the commission hasn’t had contact with anyone in regard to the sale.

The district had advertised the property for sale on two occasions, but wasn’t able to make a sale. A couple of months ago a construction company from Moses Lake almost closed a sales agreement but backed out at the last minute.

The building has been vandalized on several occasions.

The district had the property appraised for $150,000, and the school board has held firm on not going lower. In fact, Tuesday night the price was higher.

Tuesday night the school board met in executive session to consider the sale and then met in open session to approve the sale price. The sales agreement was signed. It was the only item on the agenda. The school board voted unanimously in favor of the sale.

Alexander noted the sale has not gone through “closing” yet, but the deal is basically made.

The district purchased the school and site from the Continental Land Company in October of 2013. That company had gifted the property to the school district decades ago, with the provision that if it ever stopped being used for a school, ownership would revert to the company.