Dist. 200 to put old Hubble Middle School items up for public sale next month

Perhaps it could be considered the calm after the storm.

After a hectic first half of the year, activity at the former Hubble Middle School in Wheaton has gone on primarily behind the scenes. Developers have met several times with the city trying to craft a proposal that will meet permit specifications, and city officials say the project remains a priority.

Meanwhile, Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200 officials at a meeting earlier this month quietly declared items in the venerable school surplus, a move that will allow them to put the items up for public sale next month.

“We know how important and what a staple that school has been in the community,” said the district’s director of public relations, Erica Foreman, who added that details of the sale would be released early next week. “We are taking this very seriously, and we are treating the items delicately.”

Foreman said she expects desks, chairs, lockers and other items to be available. However, some items will be preserved by the district and put on display at various schools.

“One of the great things about our district is that we really pay attention to its history,” Foreman said. “We educate our students about it, and we keep that history and the legacy of that school alive.”

As school officials prepare for the public sale, the developer who now owns the site has met several times with the city.

In July, District 200 sold the 22-acre parcel to a Chicago-based Bradford Equities LLC, which has pledged to bring a grocery store to the busy intersection of Naperville and Roosevelt roads.

“It is moving along according to plan,” Wheaton Mayor Mike Gresk said Friday. “It’s an important project for the city.”

Bradford officials have said a Mariano’s Fresh Market will open in the spring of 2013.

During a five-month period leading up to the sale of the property, a homeless advocate proposed a homeless shelter at the site, the park district tried to buy the site outright and a man who claimed to represent an Islamic school expressed interest — a claim later denied by the school.

City Manager Don Rose said the developer has yet to submit an official plan for the location and that any comment regarding permits would be withheld until it comes forward. He said beyond knowing that the site would have to be rezoned to commercial, any other permits would not be known until the Bradford puts forth its plan.

However, Rose said, he does not foresee any major obstacles once they come in.

“They have been very engaged and attentive in moving forward,” Rose said. “There don’t seem to be any red flags or anything.”