Waukesha School Board approves sale of administration building, Randall STEM Elementary building to Carroll University
The Waukesha School Board has accepted an offer to sell two of the district's buildings to Carroll University.
At a special meeting Sept. 27, the board unanimously agreed to sell the Lindholm Administration Building at 222 Maple Ave. and the Randall STEM Elementary School Building at 114 S. Charles St.
Waukesha School District superintendent James Sebert said in an email after the meeting the total amount of the sale for both buildings is $3.19 million. The purchase price for Randall is $2.04 million and the purchase price for Lindholm is $1.15 million.
District administration will move to the vacant Blair Elementary School building at 301 Hyde Park Ave., while Randall STEM Elementary students and staff will move to the vacant Whittier Elementary School building at 1103 S. East Ave. for the 2023-24 school year and beyond.
Blair Elementary was closed at the end of the 2018-19 school year and merged with Hawthorne and Lowell elementary schools, while Whittier was closed at the end of the 2021-22 school year and merged with Hadfield Elementary.
Sebert said one of the reasons for the sale is that the district's enrollment is declining and will continue to decline at least through 2030 and that the district has too many buildings to meet current and future enrollment trends. He also said Carroll University is looking for space to grow its programs in the downtown Waukesha area.
"They're an incredible institution who would be good stewards of these facilities, just as we have," Sebert said at the meeting.
In a previous news release, Carroll University said the acquisition of the two buildings would allow it "to meet the current anticipated growth" of its academic programs and student services.
Sebert noted that even with past school closures, such as at Blair, Whittier and Pleasant Hill Elementary in 2010, the district still has 29% of its buildings with available space. He said the sale would decrease the available capacity to just under 25% "with certainly more work for us to do then in the future as well."
Sebert also said the sale would help the district to address its $3 million to $4 million per year structural budget deficit.
"By selling more buildings and becoming more lean, we eliminate operational expenses as well as deferred maintenance on two buildings, which helps to address the structural deficit and it also allows us to focus on fewer buildings now and into the future," Sebert said.
Carroll University President Cindy Gnadinger said at a joint press conference Sept. 28 that the university has not made a final decision on what it will do with the buildings.
"We've had a lot of conversations about space and the senior team had a space facilitation meeting in the last few weeks, but this is going to take a little time. We have to meet with our faculty. We need to meet with our staff and we need to hear their needs before we start deciding what we will utilize those buildings for," Gnadinger said.
Sebert said at the press conference that the sale is significant for the Waukesha community for two reasons.
"Number one, we are both strong stewards of our community's resources and these buildings will continue to be used by a strong educational institution for educational purposes. And number two, I really want our community to be proud of our board of education and the way that we collectively take very seriously the responsibility to be strong stewards of our constituents' resources. Collectively, we are willing to tackle tough topics so that we are sustainable for the future and able to offer top notch opportunities for our kids, staff, families and overall community."
Contact Alec Johnson at (262) 875-9469 or alec.johnson@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @AlecJohnson12.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Waukesha School Board approves sale of two buildings to Carroll University
