SALAMANCA – Residents of the Salamanca Central School District on Tuesday approved selling a former elementary school and buying a piece of land.
The sale of the former Seneca Elementary School building, on Center Street, which is expected to become an educational building for the Seneca Nation of Indians, was approved by a vote of 238 to 103. The sale price is $950,000.
“The sale culminates over 15 months of productive conversation between the district and Seneca Nation to repurpose a school building no longer needed by the district and desired by the Nation to support its Early Childhood Learning Center,” Superintendent Robert J. Breidenstein said.
The building was mothballed after the 2012-13 school year, with students moved into a section of the Middle/High School at 50 Iroquois Drive. The move trimmed the district from three to two campuses. A plan is in the works to further pare that to a single campus at the Iroquois Drive facility, according to Breidenstein.
Conversations are under way about closing on the deal and transferring the property, as well as payments, Breidenstein said.
The second proposition on the ballot called for buying property at 608 Broad St., a parcel that abuts the Iroquois Drive campus, for not more than $41,000. The measure passed, 172 to 163.
Breidenstein said in previous discussions that the land would be used for green space but could be part of a larger plan for development in the future. The purchase contract does carry a rider that allows for the sale to be canceled if the environmental review does not come back favorably, he said. That review will be done once the weather breaks and the environmental testing can be completed.
The property at 6087 Broad St. is owned by Michael D. Zarzecki of Olean.
The sale of the former Seneca Elementary School building, on Center Street, which is expected to become an educational building for the Seneca Nation of Indians, was approved by a vote of 238 to 103. The sale price is $950,000.
“The sale culminates over 15 months of productive conversation between the district and Seneca Nation to repurpose a school building no longer needed by the district and desired by the Nation to support its Early Childhood Learning Center,” Superintendent Robert J. Breidenstein said.
The building was mothballed after the 2012-13 school year, with students moved into a section of the Middle/High School at 50 Iroquois Drive. The move trimmed the district from three to two campuses. A plan is in the works to further pare that to a single campus at the Iroquois Drive facility, according to Breidenstein.
Conversations are under way about closing on the deal and transferring the property, as well as payments, Breidenstein said.
The second proposition on the ballot called for buying property at 608 Broad St., a parcel that abuts the Iroquois Drive campus, for not more than $41,000. The measure passed, 172 to 163.
Breidenstein said in previous discussions that the land would be used for green space but could be part of a larger plan for development in the future. The purchase contract does carry a rider that allows for the sale to be canceled if the environmental review does not come back favorably, he said. That review will be done once the weather breaks and the environmental testing can be completed.
The property at 6087 Broad St. is owned by Michael D. Zarzecki of Olean.