4/4/14 - Despite matching a previous counter-offer by the district, a bid to purchase the vacant Pinckney Elementary property was rejected by the Pinckney School Board last night. With an ongoing debt and a shrinking student population, the district closed Pinckney Elementary last year. The asking price for the property was originally established at $600,000, but the district was flexible and entertained a few bids from Trinity Lutheran Church less than $300,000. Last night, the school board voted to reject an offer of $295,000, which earlier this year had been the school board's counter-offer to a proposal from the church. Superintendent Rick Todd tells WHMI the offer was seriously considered, but the district is now considering demolishing both Pinckney Elementary and the similarly-vacant Hamburg Elementary. He says the district has been seeking prices and estimates, and demolishing one school should cost about $125,000, or about half what they were expecting to pay. He adds that both buildings would need extensive maintenance to be brought up to usable standards, so it may improve the marketability of the land to remove the buildings entirely. This would also greatly reduce the likelihood that a charter school would move into the old buildings, and increase the chances that a developer would bring new homes to the area. (TD)
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