West Park Elementary School in Ravenna, which closed at the end of the school year, will be going on the auction block, the Ravenna school district has announced.
The auction will be 10 a.m. Aug. 15 at the Board of Education office, 534 Summit St. in Ravenna. Those interested in bidding on the building can make arrangements with Kristen Plageman, the school district’s treasurer, to walk through the building prior to the auction.
The building sale will not be final until the board approves a resolution at a meeting in August or September.
The district announced in February that the school, which housed kindergarten students, was to close. At that time, Superintendent Ben Ribelin said the building would be repurposed, leased or sold. Later, he clarified that the Board of Education decided to sell the building.
Kindergarten students will begin school in August at Willyard Elementary School in Ravenna Township. Willyard also houses first- and second-graders.
When the closure was announced, Ribelin said the district has an enrollment of 1,750 students, which is a 40% drop over the past 15 years. He cited declining birth rates, population shifts, school vouchers and open enrollment for the loss of students. Kindergarten enrollment, which was 295 when Ravenna closed Tappan Elementary School in 2013, has been at 120 students the past two years.
Earlier this year, Ribelin said another building in the district would close as part of the district’s “consolidation plan.”
Ribelin said the district has “had several people reach out” to express interest in the building, but did not give details.
Furniture and equipment in the building will be auctioned online separately prior to the auction. The date for the online auction has not been set.
Ribelin said when a school is offered for sale, the district first must offer the building to charter schools, which have the first opportunity to purchase the building. If none does, the building then must be offered for public auction. If the auction is unsuccessful or all bids are rejected, the building can then be sold privately.
The district is planning a public reception to give residents and former students a final opportunity to visit. Ribelin said the event will be held before the auction date.
West Park is the fourth building the district has closed since the early 2000s.
The former Ravenna High School, at East Main and Clinton Streets, was demolished in 2012 after the board held a public auction but rejected the top bid. The property was sold to the City of Ravenna in 2022 for a future safety building and city hall.
In 2013, the district closed Tappan Elementary School, which now is leased to Education Alternatives, which bought the former Board of Education office in 2020, saying it would be used as a counseling center.
In 2020, Carlin Elementary School was closed, and the remaining elementary buildings were reorganized.
The Carlin building now houses the district’s Board of Education offices, and its special services, EMIS and preschool.
The former Rausch Intermediate School, which is connected to Brown Middle School, has been vacant in recent years. That building opened in 1915 as the Ravenna Township School, and is the oldest building in the district.
Reporter Diane Smith can be reached at dsmith@recordpub.com.
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Ravenna to auction West Park Elementary, and will offer chance for a final tour
Reporting by Diane Smith, Ravenna Record-Courier / Record-Courier
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