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Mundelein High board opts not to sell golf course

The Mundelein High School District 120 board has rejected a purchase offer for a golf course it has been trying to sell.

The district will keep the 94-acre Village Green Country Club, on the southeast corner of Midlothian and Winchester roads, and let a future board decide what to do with it, spokesman Ron Girard said. The 18-hole course will stay open.

This month, the board received bids from one company, M/I Homes. The firm offered to purchase a 50-acre section for about $3.3 million or the entire site for about $6.1 million.

But after examining projected property values and other financial factors, board members on Tuesday decided to keep the property. Officials might re-examine selling the land if real estate values increase, board member Jane Siegel said.

The district paid $8.4 million for Village Green in 2004.

Board members didn't want to take a multimillion-dollar loss on the property.

"The question is, what's in the best interest of the school district," Siegel said. "And losing money is not in the best interest of any school district."

The district bought the land because enrollment was expected to increase dramatically and officials thought they might need land for a second campus. Those population projections didn't pan out, though.

Officials had hoped a homebuilder would buy at least half the property. They considered keeping some of the land for athletic fields.

A company called GolfVisions Management has run the golf course at Village Green since 2007, and that will continue.

GolfVisions pays the school district 5 percent of the course's gross revenue, with a minimum payment of $50,000 annually. The agreement with GolfVisions expires in 2020.

Meanwhile, Mundelein High officials and architects are crafting a $50.7 million expansion plan for the campus at 1350 W. Hawley St.

A new auditorium and a new cafeteria are chief among the projects being considered. Existing building space also could be turned into classrooms for performing arts programs.

The Village Green site isn't included in those plans.

Mundelein Dist. 120 considering selling most of Village Green property

Mundelein High board puts golf course on the market

Mundelein High School to restart bidding for Village Green golf course

Mundelein High board members question potential land sale

Mundelein High board may again seek bids for golf course

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