'We're in the driver's seat': Algonac takes up long-empty elementary school building
An end may soon be in sight to the yearslong vacancy of the old Algonac Elementary School, as the city moves to take ownership itself.
But what the future of the property, 1216 St. Clair Blvd., will look like has not been set.
Algonac Mayor Rocky Gillis said the response has been positive since City Council members agreed last week to formally purchase the old school, which has remained closed since 2015.
The purchase doesn’t formally close until Monday.
After a couple of changes in ownership, however, the decision itself marks the final chapter in the recent history of the site — one that’s only left the property unused and empty at the city’s center.
“I think the residents are finally ready for something to happen,” Gillis said Thursday. “The city has been sitting waiting for somebody to come in and do something with it. Now, we’re in the driver’s seat, and we can actually control it, help with where the future is going to lay. We can get it cleaned up and get it ready. So, that way it’s not such an eyesore in the middle of our town.”
The 67,000-square-foot elementary school was one of three sites — in addition to Fairhaven Elementary and an administrative building also addressed on St. Clair Boulevard — that Algonac Community Schools closed and put on the market eight years ago.
It was quickly purchased in November 2015 for $202,500 under Bach Enterprises, whose agent originally brought in Woodside Bible Church as a potential occupant for the school site. After pushback from residents, the church opened a congregation elsewhere in the city, and after two years, the school property was transferred to the real estate arm of the Georgia-based National Christian Foundation.
More recently, without any final plans identified by the foundation, the city of Algonac began to refocus on taking action on the elementary school site.
Officials commissioned a development analysis of the school in 2021, receiving results in June of last year. The 29-page summary broke down potential concepts for the property, including residential developments under its then-zoning that’d require razing the school structure and other mixed-use commercial or multi-family builds with parking lots, business, an auditorium and fitness amenities.
Then, at the end of 2022, updated the area’s zoning and introduced an overlay district to help make it more developer-ready. Last month, council members agreed to participate in an auction of the building ending Nov. 16.
The city was the successful bidder for $165,000, plus a $20,000 marketing fee.
Moving forward, Gillis said officials expected to get public input on how to make new use of the school, anticipating setting town halls at a future council meeting after the purchase is final.
He said it was difficult to get specific on those potential uses, citing the variety of things the property could accommodate.
“Personally, I think there’s going to be a variety of ideas that’ll come forth. Economics is going to be a large factor in what we do and how we do it. Myself, I love the gym, and that building is absolutely beautiful. I’d love to see that get used again. For an elementary school, it’s got a full-size gymnasium."
Contact Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: 'We're in the driver's seat': Algonac new owner of long-empty elementary school
