COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – During a special meeting that lasted about two hours, the Coldwater Board of Education Thursday authorized Superintendent Terry Boguth to negotiate the purchase of land from the City of Coldwater for the purpose of a new fourth and fifth grade school building. The motion passed unanimously.
The district has been looking at the property, which is the current location of the Little League diamonds on Western Avenue.
City officials have said the diamonds are in poor shape. The City of Coldwater owns the land and there have been negotiations between the school district and the city.
If the school takes over the property, the city plans to move the Little League diamonds to another location in Heritage Park.
Two others options were explored for a new building. One was a seventh and grade building at the northeast corner of Bishop and Green. The other was a fourth and fifth grade building near the water tower on the northwest corner of Green.
Coldwater school officials have been looking at future needs in the district since last spring. The proposed new building would replace Lakeland Elementary.
The district is looking to put together a November bond proposal for the new building and infrastructure needs. A final board decision on the scope of the project has to be finalized by May 22, 2017 before it goes to the State Treasury.
If voters say yes, Boguth says construction wouldn’t start until 2019. The building would be open in 2021.
The other aspects of the bond proposal still have to be put together.
A community survey is also planned before a decision is made.
