By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com
WALDPORT – The city of Waldport is going to make a run at purchasing the hulking, former middle school building and garden area that the Lincoln County School District has been trying to sell since the spring.
The Waldport city council last week authorized city manager Dann Cutter to make the school district an offer to buy the property.
The 14,000 square foot former gymnasium, cafeteria and adjoining parking lot has sat mostly unused since Seashore Family Literacy returned it to the school district in March. The adjoining community garden was used through the spring and summer by volunteers.
But the school district wants to unload it. When the 2.81-acre property hit the market last spring the list price was $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.
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.
Seashore ended most of its programs in the building during the coronavirus pandemic. But last fall it was discovered that Seashore never had permits to operate in the building and that it needed structural repairs to the roof, bathroom upgrades and potentially a fire sprinkler system. That prompted Seashore to just turn back the property to the district on March 31. It is now operating out of its DaNoble House adjacent to city hall.
Cutter then asked the school district then if it would just give the property to the city, but was told the district wanted to try to sell it first.
The school district made repairs to the roof’s structure to get the building ready for sale.
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 that will be developed on the former high school fields just to the east of the former gym and cafeteria.
Instead of constructing new restrooms in the park, visitors could use upgraded restrooms in the building. The large gym could be used for community events, youth sports and an off-season venue for Waldport’s Wednesday Market. With city ownership, the community garden could be reinvigorated and possibly join with OSU Master Gardener programs.
And, city officials say, supporters of the city’s library desperately want to move out of its cramped building on Hemlock Street.
“For us, it’s the building, the garden, the open area and parking,” Cutter told YachatsNews.
Cutter said 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.
As is its policy, school district superintendent Karen Gray told YachatsNews that she could not comment on ongoing real estate offers or negotiations.
The city and school district are not 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.