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Harrison County purchases property from school board

T-L Photo/CARRI GRAHAM The former Westgate Elementary School is located along Peppered Avenue in Cadiz. Harrison County commissioners signed a contract with the school district Wednesday to purchase the 7-acre property for $200,000.

CADIZ — Harrison County will soon own the former Westgate Elementary School property after signing a real estate purchase contract Wednesday morning.

Commissioners entered into the agreement with the Harrison Hills City School District Board of Education to purchase the former school site, which consists of 7.86 acres, for $200,000. Commissioners Dale Norris, Don Bethel and Paul Coffland unanimously approved and signed the contract during the meeting. Norris, who showed interest in the property originally, declined to comment on the contract signing when asked if he had anything to add during the discussion portion following the contract’s approval. He jokingly added that he would discuss it after they figure out what will be going into the building.

Following the meeting, Coffland said they opted to purchase the property as it would be the county’s best and most inexpensive option if the board of commissioners would want to expand its or other county offices.

“We decided it was a good idea to purchase the site, especially the way bids and building materials are right now. You couldn’t build anything for $200,000 right now if we wanted to,” he said.

Coffland said they are continuing to explore options on what the building could be used for in the future.

“We’re going to have to do a good bit of discussion to figure out the best public use and office departments that could utilize that space,” he said. “We have too many options right now, and we’re going to have to decide what is the best for the public to access the facility.”

Norris said that some of the offices may be used for county departments or for other entities, but he did not get into specifics.

Renovations for the building will be dependent on what departments will utilize the building, Coffland said.

In the meantime, Bethel said the most difficult aspect is going to be maintaining the more than 7 acres of land. The school district is currently responsible for the grounds being mowed and maintained. This responsibility will fall to the county once the sale is finalized.

After the school’s closing, the administrative offices for the school district were housed in the building for some time until the new school complex was completed in 2019. Once the administration was moved to the new campus, the facility, located at 730 Peppard Ave. in Cadiz, was used for storage until an auction of the items was conducted last year. Since then the building has mostly remained vacant, with the exception of a dance studio located in the back side of the building. Commissioners said the dance studio pays the school board rent to utilize a space in the building, something that they must consider moving forward.

The school board approved the sale of the former school property to the county during its meeting held last week. The sale should be finalized in 60 days.

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