The Logan Board of Education has agreed to sell an 84-year-old school to a group of residents who have promised to turn it into a community center.
The Community Center Committee submitted a bid of $51,000 for the historic building, and although it was not the highest of seven bids, it was the highest among those who wanted to keep the building intact.Superintendent Gary Carlston said Wednesday the two highest bidders wanted to demolish the school and build something else on the property.
But the board opted to stay with the residents dedicated to res-tor-a-tion.
Carlston said that over the past 10 years, the former Whittier Elementary School has been used by the Alliance for the Varied Arts, but AVA moved its programs into the new Capitol Arts Complex in downtown Logan in December.
Marsha Rawlins, chairwoman of the committee, said the Cache Valley Civic Ballet Company would like to come back to Whittier, because the floor is much better for ballet.
Rawlins said another group has mentioned using the building for a latchkey program so children of working parents would have somewhere to go after school.
Rawlins said she thinks her group could come up with a down payment through donations and will ask the board to carry a 10-year contract. The payments would be made through rent from building tenants.
"The school district has no further use for the building, but a lot of people want it preserved for historic and sentimental reasons," Carlston said.