No bids on old Hubble site in Wheaton

Wheaton Park District officials are saying: We told you so.

After weeks of anticipation, no bids were submitted by Thursday’s deadline to buy the former Hubble Middle School site near downtown Wheaton. School officials were requiring a $10 million minimum bid.

“We said right from the beginning that it was way too high,” park board President Ray Morrill said. “I still say that what we’d like to do is sit down with the school district and see how we can work together for everyone’s common good. That was my goal and that is still my goal and my wish.”

At a short meeting Thursday, Wheaton Warrenville Unit School District 200 officials announced that a 60-day sealed-bid auction had solicited zero bids. They said they will reopen the process and would release details during a special meeting at 6 p.m. Monday.

Board President Andy Johnson said the discussion would most likely revolve around an open auction and selling to the highest bidder, removing the $10 million minimum. He said the park district is welcome to make an offer.

Johnson said the process worked exactly as it should have, with the school district using an appraiser’s estimate as the minimum bid. However, Johnson said he would have liked to have gotten things done with the sealed auction.

“Nothing went wrong,” he said. “Who are we to second guess that amount? We went with it ... Unfortunately, the results were not what we wanted.”

Because of preliminary steps taken to prepare for the silent auction, Johnson said he expects a quick turnaround in the open auction, saying that it could be resolved within 30 days.

The school district opened the auction Feb. 9 for the 22-acre property, which lies on the prominent northeast corner of Roosevelt Road and Main Street.

Superintendent Brian Harris said there continues to be interest in the parcel, with 28 bid packets picked up during the auction. Harris would not speculate on possible reasons for the lack of bids or whether the $10 million minimum was too high.

After the meeting, however, he said the results did not change the district’s intent.

“The board continues to be committed to sell the property,” Harris said. “We will move ahead and continue that process.”

The start of the auction came after an aggressive push by the park district to buy the property for “fair market value.” Park officials say the site’s ball fields and the three gymnasiums provide the district about 90,000 user hours per year. They have said that losing this access would result in program cuts.

The day before the auction kicked off, park officials released a plan that would reserve the gym space and would set aside the southeastern edge of the property for light commercial development.

But school officials went forward with the auction and the park district did not enter a bid, saying that the land was not worth it because 13 acres on a flood plain do not support development. But on Thursday, Morrill said the results of the auction were encouraging.

“This is definitely a second chance,” he said. “We had never given up and we were always hopeful. We felt $10 million was too high. I think this has proven that what we said was correct.”

The sale of the Hubble site was also at the center of several election discussions. Mayoral candidate John Prendiville supported the park district plan and echoed Morrill’s sentiments on Thursday.

“I’m not surprised (at the auction results),” he said. “I predicted it months ago. The market value is much lower. At the very least, it gives us renewed hope that the park district could end up acquiring the site because that is the highest and best use for the site for the city of Wheaton.”