C-M gets offers for two closed schools
Shown from left are Canon-McMillan’s First Street Elementary and Cecil Elementary buildings, which could be sold by Canon-McMillan.
Canon-McMillan’s First Street Elementary building, which was one of three closed at the end of the school year, could soon be sold to a developer.
The Cecil Elementary building, which was closed at the end of the school year, could be sold by Canon-McMillan and become senior housing.
A month after some of the youngest members of the Canon-McMillan community left the buildings for good, district officials plan to sell two shuttered elementary schools to buyers who reportedly plan to turn them into housing for some of the community’s oldest members.
The school board passed resolutions in two 9-0 votes Thursday authorizing the sale of the two buildings to separate buyers who made offcers on the buildings dating back to the first half of last century.
One of the resolutions lists developers Benjamin and Iryna Katsevich as having made an offer to buy the more than 80-year-old Cecil Elementary building – on property off Route 50 – for $525,000. Another lists the Miller-Valentine Group as having bid $600,000 for the First Street building, which opened in 1924 as First Ward School in Canonsburg.
Both buildings closed at the end of last school year, along with Muse Elementary, as the district prepared to consolidate them in a new elementary center being built in Muse to keep pace with growing enrollment. The old Muse Elementary building was razed.
The buyers of both properties plan to redevelop them into senior housing, district officials said.
Benjamin Katsevich and representatives for Miller-Valentine couldn’t be reached for comment Monday.
Broker NAI Pittsburgh listed the properties for the district. Under state law, the district must get file a petition in Washington County Court to seek a judge’s approval before closing on the private sale.
A week before the vote, board member Darla Bowman-Monaco said during a meeting the district “should be grateful” to have found buyers. “This is a pretty big deal,” she said.
District solicitor Jocelyn Kramer said during the same meeting said she believed the offers exceeded the appraised values of the buildings.
“Keeping them online is a huge burden, as we’ve seen in a lot of other districts,” Kramer said during the same meeting. “In some cases, the only way we can sell the land was to demolish the building, so I think you guys did really, really well here. And we’re hopeful for a quick closing.”