Eugene School District 4J approves $2.9 million to buy old Wells Fargo Bank buildimg

The Eugene 4J School District board voted this week to buy a downtown building for $2.9 million, hoping to use it as its main office location.The property, a former Wells Fargo bank building located at 99 E Broadway, would require an additional $10 million in renovations, according to 4J estimates, which was among the topics debated on Wednesday during a lengthy discussion held before the final vote to approve the purchase. Five board members voted in favor: Maya Rabasa, Judy Newman, Tom Di Liberto, Morgan Munro and Ericka Thessen. Two voted against it: Jenny Jonak and Rick Hamilton.

Jonak said she was "very much against" the purchase, arguing the district has higher-priority needs, such as more educational assistants and special education staff. She also listed some schools that require repairs and remodels, including Twin Oaks Elementary School and Kennedy Middle School.

"This is like splurging on a vacation home when you are still paying off your primary residence," Jonak said during the meeting. "We have needs right now that are urgent. I think our resources should be focused on what can improve the student experience now."

"My gut instinct is we are not really considering the immediate needs of the kids," Hamilton said.

District officials hope to move into the 99 E Broadway building by the fall of 2025.

"We really are trying to do the right thing," Thessen said, directing her comment to the community. "There's nothing that we can guarantee down the road — inflation, another pandemic, different things (won't) derail plans... I feel like at least a building is a physical thing."

Di Liberto said the plan would play off in the long term, given how scarce instructional spaces are in Eugene.

"This is a rare opportunity that could benefit many of our kids," Di Liberto said.

Why is 4J moving?

The current central office, which is located at 200 N. Monroe St., was never designed to be the seat for administrative functions. It was initially built for Lane Community College and sold to 4J. It is zoned for public education facilities.

There has been an ongoing discussion over whether that location is being used to its best potential.

In January 2023, 4J made an offer on the former Eugene Water & Electric Board property at 500 E. Fourth Ave. Despite 4J Superintendent Andy Dey's initial confidence, EWEB accepted a $12 million offer with the City of Eugene, which will be moving into the Fourth Ave. building to use as its city hall.

"Despite not being able to purchase that building, the need to revert 200 North Monroe to instructional space, to not use that valuable space for administrative purposes, continued to exist," Dey told the Register-Guard on Thursday. "We kept our eyes on what was available in the way of appropriate and reasonably priced commercial property."

Dey said this downtown location is, appropriately, near the heart of Eugene where there are a plethora of businesses, government agencies, community events and gatherings.

4J plans to move quickly

Dey said he was already initiating the next phase of the 99 E Broadway transaction, adding that he has a "very high level of confidence" the purchase will go through. Dey believed 4J could assume occupancy in the next 30 days.

Once the district is in the 99 E Broadway building, Dey said the facilities team can begin to get permits and start the early stages of abatement and remodeling.

4J estimates the cost of building improvements and required updates such as asbestos abatement could exceed $10 million. Most of the money would come from unspent ESSER III funding, which were part of one-time COVID-19 relief money that needs to be spent by the end of September. The Oregon Department of Education has approved this use of ESSER funding.

Other funding sources come from prior property sales, such as the sale of the old Roosevelt Middle School property, and general fund reserves.

The fate of 200 N. Monroe

As far as what would be replacing the central office, Dey said this is completely up in the air.

"I don't want to talk about what might be possible in a way that suggests that any decisions have been made," Dey said. "Possibilities are fantastic and exciting. We just can't get ahead of ourselves and make any decisions until we really frame conversations and are able to make promises that we fully intend to follow through on with that space."

Options that could go into the 200 N. Monroe building have been mentioned so far:

• 4J's GED program, currently located at several rental spaces around Eugene. Dey said this program's status is uncertain year-to-year due to the use of rental locations. Moving to a district building could offer stability.

• 4J's alternative programs.

• Career and technical education courses.

4J's Early Career College and Career Options Program (ECCO) is already located at the 200 N. Monroe building and will remain there.

The 200 N. Monroe site was one option that was deliberated when considering a new home for Yujin Gakuen Japanese Immersion Elementary School in the spring and summer of 2023. Then, the district estimated that renovations to accommodate YG would cost $37 million. Board members also mentioned YG during the board meeting as a potential option.

"We are certainly not going to eliminate have any idea off of the table," Dey said. "I don't want to get the impression that the commitment is to do that (move YG to Monroe). Between last night's decision and now, I haven't spoken with the YG community, and that's going to be really important."

Dey said 4J intends to engage the community before making any decisions on the site. The district also plans to reconvene its long-range facility planning committee, which would allow local business leaders, community members, district staff and others to weigh options. This committee would discuss facility plans for the district as a whole, not just the Monroe site.

While 4J determines the future of the Monroe site, the question of funding comes to mind. While no voter-approved bond or levy funding or Student Success Act dollars will be used for the move to the 99 E Broadway site, Dey said the district would likely be looking into the next bond cycle for renovations to the Monroe site, depending on what direction the district takes.

"It's really hard to say what anything is going to cost and how we're going to fund it until we know exactly what we're going to do," Dey said.

As far as a timeline, that will also depend on what the district chooses to put in the Monroe site. Dey said the district plans to start early discussing priorities and necessary changes, but any remodels or updates wouldn't happen until the administration has moved out of the building.

"We're probably looking at 2028-2029 for those more significant, larger-scale projects," Dey said during the meeting.

Miranda Cyr reports on education for The Register-Guard. You can contact her at mcyr@registerguard.com or find her on Twitter @mirandabcyr.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Eugene 4J approves $2.9 million purchase of downtown building