Building sells for $40,000

MINSTER - A pair of businesses will pay $40,000 to buy the Hanover Street School that has been closed for the last four years.

School board members this morning accepted the bid from Current Medical Services, of Sylva, N.C., and Midnet Media, of Minster, Kelly Clusters of Current Medical Services said in a news release.

The building is to be renovated for commercial office space and the gymnasium would be available for use by the community members, churches and charities, Clusters said.

District officials will pay a 6 percent commission to Weigandt Real Estate, of Minster, for the sale, treasurer Laura Klosterman said.

The district, officials said, will save money by selling the building.

"The very first year we had the building closed up, it was costing us between $30,000-$35,000 just to keep it boarded up. That will be an additional savings in addition to the purchase price we are getting," superintendent Brenda Boeke said.

"It's exciting to see the building back in use again," school board president Connie Meiring said.

Weigandt will first perform a title search, Boeke said.

"Once the title comes back clear, a closing date will be set," she said.

The buyers would like to close the purchase within two weeks, Boeke said.

District officials have attempted to sell the school over the past few years.

The school was up for auction in July 2013 with a starting price of $400,000. No one bid on the 48,307-square-foot building during the auction.

Commercial and Industrial Leasing Ltd., a group of investors headed by Minster businessman Jack Buschur, showed interest in buying the building for $300,000 in December 2013.

Buschur said his group planned to renovate the interior of the building and develop it into a senior citizen living center. The center would then have been contracted out to a company that had success running such facilities.

The group withdrew its offer in June after failing to find a group to operate the center. The building was put back on the market through Weigandt in August.

The school was built in 1931 following board approval of the $88,000 project. Originally constructed as a high school, it later also housed junior high and elementary schools.

It was expanded from the original 22 classrooms to 30 in 1951. Other changes over the years included the installation of an elevator and handicap-accessible restrooms in 1995 to comply with Americans With Disabilities Act requirements and the office was moved to the ground floor in 2003.

The building has been closed since the start of the 2011-2012 school year after the elementary school was moved to its new location on Fourth Street.