By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com
WALDPORT – Faced suddenly with at least two competing offers for the former Seashore Family Literacy and Waldport school property in the middle of downtown, the Lincoln County School District has decided to take the property off the market for a few months.
Superintendent Karen Gray informed the city of Waldport that the district wants to “rethink selling this property.”
The city of Waldport made an offer on the property Oct. 14 and there apparently is at least one more offer from an individual or business.
Faced with two competing offers for different uses, Gray said in an email Thursday to Waldport city manager Dann Cutter and mayor Greg Holland “We don’t feel good about the sale at this time” and hope to restart the process in early 2023 after more staff and school board discussions.
“Since we have nothing signed with any buyer that ties us to a sale, we are putting this whole thing on hold for a few months,” Gray said in her email. “We would like to have more internal conversation about price and about potential uses for the property that support the mission and vision of the Lincoln County School District and at the present time, we are just not ready.”
“We regret any inconvenience to anyone,” Gray said. “It was not an easy decision. But the right one.”
Two weeks ago the Waldport city council authorized Cutter to make the school district an offer for the 2.81-acre property and 14,000-square-foot gym and cafeteria that sits along Hemlock Street and adjacent to its soon-to-be-developed Louis Southworth Park.
The 14,000 square foot former gymnasium, cafeteria, adjoining parking lot and community garden has sat mostly unused since Seashore Family Literacy returned it to the school district in March. Volunteers used the garden through the spring and summer.
Seashore Family Literacy had been using the building and grounds since 2014 under a $2 purchase agreement with the school district. But the agreement also said the nonprofit had to return the property to the district if it ever stopped using it.
After getting the property back from Seashore, the district decided to put it on the market – with an original list price of $750,000. The latest price on a real estate website was $595,000, but the district has apparently received an offer or two much below that.
Cutter and the city council have repeatedly said the property could be a strong addition to the planned development of the new Louis Southworth Park on the former high school fields just to the east of the former gym and cafeteria.
In a reply to Gray, Cutter said he hopes the superintendent and school board – of which Seashore founder Sentila McKinley is a member – considers what the city hopes to do with the property.
Cutter said the city’s long-term plans include the possible location for a new library, a community kitchen and meeting space, an indoor gym for community use, and general recreational use tied to Southworth Park. He also suggested the district work with OSU’s Master Gardener program to take over operation of the community garden that sits on the west edge of the property.
Cutter said previously that money to purchase the property would come from a variety of city sources in its 2023-24 budget – urban renewal funds, federal stimulus money and capital reserves.
The city and school district are no strangers when it comes to property transactions. At Waldport’s request, the district in July gave the city the 3.58-acre Kendall Memorial Field baseball and softball complex. The city and Waldport Junior League Sports Association hope to take better care of the property now that it is in city ownership.