SACRED HEART - Is eBay the place where vacant school buildings will end up as more and more of the world goes virtual, school enrollment declines and education funding is harder to find?
A decade ago, Renville County West (RCW) Public Schools had students in four buildings.
Now RCW students go to class only in Renville.
Last winter, the RCW board decided to stop holding classes in the Sacred Heart school this school year.
Sacred Heart, population 550, is located on U.S. Highway 212, between Renville and Granite Falls.
The decision to cease holding classes in the school came after a series of recent events.
An excess levy referendum failed a couple years ago.
The State Fire Marshal ordered the district to have indoor sprinklers in all its buildings.
Enrollment fell.
"Our enrollment is stabilizing. It's is a little more than 500 students, many of them migrants," Renville County West Superintendent Lance Bagstad said. "We were like a single family living in two homes. Too much space and equipment is an expensive luxury."
As a budget-cutting move last school year, the school board decided to discontinue classes in the Sacred Heart building.
Wrestling events plus junior high volleyball and basketball games are held in the Sacred Heart school, which got an extra year to operate without adding indoor sprinklers.
"We saved money by using just one building for classes and food service," Bagstad said.
The Sacred Heart school building, which includes an 80,000-square foot building on 4.68 acres, two gyms and a bus garage is for sale on eBay and on the school district web site.
There is no eBay bidding on the item at this time.
If the building and its contents are not sold, an auction will be held on the school site on June 24,
Bagstad has doubts whether the auction will happen.
He's been busy answering thousands of e-mails about the school.
"It's been very interesting," he added.
"I began getting e-mail inquiries 30 minutes after the school was posted on eBay. We could strike a deal between the board and a creative, suitable buyer before June 24."
Bagstad said inquiries have come from people in Willmar, Minneapolis and states as far away as Washington, California, New Jersey and Florida.
Proposal ideas include an assisted-living facility, bed and breakfast, research and development, training and apartment building conversions.
"It's about more than just money to the board," Bagstad said. "We want a buyer who will not only occupy the building but develop it and keep it viable."
Just a few miles up the road, the Kandiyohi County Sheriff's Office recently sold a customized 1939 Ford Deluxe coup on eBay for $19,500.
The vehicle was confiscated from a Dassel man charged with multiple driving while impaired offenses.
(Fritz Busch can be e-mailed at fbusch@nujournal.com).
