Canon-McMillan seeks court approval to sell buildings, lot
Canon-McMillan School District has found buyers for two schools and a vacant lot for a total of $1.193 million, but by law, it needs a judge’s approval to close the sales, which according to the estimates of independent professionals will bring the district more than the properties’ appraised value.
On Jan. 26, school directors voted to close the Cecil and First Street elementary schools.
First Street Elementary, at 803 First St., drew the highest offer of the three properties, $600,000 from Miller-Valentine Group of Cincinnati, Ohio. It was built in 1924.
Cecil Elementary, built in 1936, includes a 10-acre tract. Benjamin and Iryna Katsevich of 3656 Bluff Creek Road, Avella, have offered to buy that property for $525,000.
The buyers intend to convert the buildings into housing for senior citizens.
The school board voted May 18 to sell an approximately one-acre lot at 790 Boone Ave., North Strabane Township. Daryl W. Price of 751 Glenn St., Washington, has offered $68,000 for the land.
The school district submitted to the court appraisals from Anthony Barna and Robert and Stephen Barone to verify the soundness of the offers. Judge Damon Faldowski scheduled hearings on the proposed sale of each piece of property for the afternoon of Monday, Nov. 20.
A new $25.7 million elementary school in Muse, for which the district broke ground in 2015, is scheduled to open this school year. Canon-McMillan’s other elementary schools are Borland Manor, Hills Hendersonville, South Central and Wylandville.
Canon-McMillan is one of the fastest-growing school districts in Southwestern Pennsylvania.
The three municipalities in the district, Canonsburg, Cecil Township and North Strabane Township, all reported growth from the 2000 U.S. Census to 2010. North Strabane’s population grew by 33.3 percent, the most explosive rate in Washington County, while Cecil’s was 15.5 percent. In both townships, housing has replaced former farmland.