Oct 24, 2016 3 min read

ROGERSVILLE – Springhill Township will soon have a new community center at a familiar location.

The center is coming about as a result of a recent decision by the Greene County Court approving the sale by West Greene School District to the township of the former Springhill-Freeport Elementary School.

The township will purchase the building, which has not been used as a school since June 2015, and its 5.994 acres of land for $75,000. It is scheduled to close on the sale Dec. 10.

The township has not had a community center for a number of years, township Supervisor Bruce Johnson said.

It previously had a building that served as a community center in a former church at Laurel Run and Deep Valley roads, but that burned down about seven or eight years ago, Johnson said. Insurance money from that fire will be used to help purchase the school, he said.

The new center can possible be used for family reunions, group meetings or community get-togethers, Supervisor Richard Debolt he said.

“It will be open for the community to use, but we want to see how it works out,” Debolt said.

The supervisors are waiting to see what interest residents might have in using the new building for various events or activities, he said. Johnson added the building also might be used as the local food distribution site for people in need and as a polling place during elections.

“It’s not just for residents of the township,” he said. “Others in the surrounding area can use it as well.”

The Springhill-Freeport school, which was constructed in 1952, is still in “pretty good condition,” Debolt said.

As part of the sale, the township also will receive the modular buildings now on site as well as the ball field. Debolt said the ball field will remain open for the community’s use.

The school district had been attempting to sell the school since it consolidated all district elementary classes in the new elementary center at the start of the 2015-16 school year.

The district was required by law to receive court approval for the sale, A court hearing was held on the district’s petition to sell the property to the township earlier this month and no one objected to it, Debolt said.

The district had listed the building with Northwood Realty in April and received only one purchase offer, from the townships. Two real estate appraisers both indicated the township’s $75,000 offer for the property was “fair and reasonable,” based on the building’s condition, the district’s court petition said.

The school district is also attempting to sell its Graysville Elementary School, which also closed in June 2015. A listing on Northwood Realty’s website shows the asking price for that building is $225,000.