District 128 to buy house near Libertyville High
With their collective eye on creating more athletic fields, Libertyville-Vernon Hills Area High School District 128 officials on Monday agreed to buy a house across the street from Libertyville High.
The house and roughly one-acre lot at 933 W. Park Ave. will cost the district $280,000. Closing is scheduled for May.
The vote came during a special meeting that included a 35-minute closed-door discussion.
The house is occupied by a renter, Superintendent Prentiss Lea said. Officials aren't sure how long the tenant will be able to stay.
The land is near vacant property the district already owns across the street from Libertyville High, 708 W. Park Ave. The long-term goal is to acquire more land and have a large green space for sports activities, Lea said.
"We can't build behind the building because of that big body of water that's there," Lea told the Daily Herald after the vote, referring to Butler Lake.
Officials will explore some "interim uses" for the land at 933 W. Park, school board President Pat Groody said.
Creating more open space for students and athletes is "in the long-term strategic interest of the district," Groody said.
Lea and Groody stressed the board is looking to acquire only land across from Libertyville High. No one has to worry about officials coming after their homes, they said.
The purchase is the latest decision the board has made to increase its athletic-field offerings.
Last year, officials decided to raze the former Brainerd Building and the Jackson Gym, which are on Route 176 east of Libertyville High, and turn the land into sports fields and parking.
Both structures had been unused for years. A plan to turn the site into a community center was rejected by voters in spring 2014.
The demolition could conclude next month.