Criteria For Lakewood Board Of Education Building Sale Set

LAKEWOOD, OH — The Lakewood Board of Education building is up for sale and on June 5, the Board of Education laid out the parameters it is using to consider any proposals for purchase. There are five main criteria the Board will examine when considering bids for the property at 1470 Warren Rd.

The five criteria are:

1. Ensure the safety and security of Grant Elementary School
2. Purchase price
3. Guarantee occupancy for current Board offices for minimum 12-18 months
4. Preserve historical nature of the East Rockport building
5. Return of tax paying property to the tax duplicate

Lakewood Superintendent Jeff Patterson recommended the sale of the building in September 2016. During that meeting, he suggested the administrative staff should be moved to the former Taft Elementary building. That would then cause Lakewood City Academy to move from Taft to the former Franklin Elementary building.

Franklin Elementary served as a temporary house to students from Roosevelt Elementary, while that school underwent construction. The construction of three new elementary school buildings was part of the final $100 million phase of the district’s Facilities Master Plan project, which will be complete when the high school finishes work on its east wing and re-opens in Aug. 2017.

A tour of the revamped high school is being offered on August 20, when the new Lakewood High School Performing Arts & Physical Education wing will be formally dedicated.

In a bittersweet moment, the Board of Education posted a message congratulating the graduating class of 2017 on the sign outside of the Warren Road building. It could be the last message posted at that site from the Board.

See the message below.

Photo from Rick Uldricks, Patch