St. Cloud school district receives land donation next to Westwood Elementary
St. Cloud Area School District 742 has accepted a donation of land roughly the size three-and-a-half football fields next to Westwood Elementary school.
The land owner, Jeff Theisen, on behalf of his family and Jazzz Holdings LLC, said the donation is in honor of his parents, Francis and Cyrilla Theisen, according to a press release form the school district. His mother served as a lunch lady at Westwood for 20 years.
“We hope one day to see kids fishing, riding bikes, finding arrowheads, building forts and planting huge gardens (my father’s passion),” Theisen said in the press release.
Al Dahlgren, chair of the Board Finance Committee, thanked the Theisen family for the donation and assured them, “we will be good stewards of the land.” Shannon Haws, school board chair, said, “we are all very thankful. What a true gift and opportunity to have it ideally located next to Westwood.”
Tami DeLand, director of community engagement and communications for the school district, told the Times there are no immediate plans on how the land will be utilized.
The 155,639 square feet of land has a 2022 taxable value of $687,100 with an appraised value of $975,000.
The donation was initially accepted in a regularly scheduled school board meeting in July.
A dedication of the property is planned for a future date.
This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: St. Cloud Area Schools receives large land donation
