Dist. 200 lowers Hubble minimum bid
Wheaton Warrenville Unit School District 200 officials will now let the open market determine the worth of the old Hubble Middle School site, with one caveat: It must be more than $5 million.
At a special meeting Monday, school officials announced the figure and said it would be the minimum bid at an open auction next month.
“We wanted to set a price we felt would draw bidders and not exclude anyone,” board member Ken Knicker said.
The open-bid auction will be held at 2 p.m. May 16 at the Student Service Center, 130 W. Park Ave, Wheaton. A closed-session discussion resulted in the figure and Superintendent Brian Harris said the board considered several factors, including past appraisals.
On Thursday, school officials were disappointed that no bids came in during a 60-day, closed-bid auction. Some board members acknowledged Monday that the $10 million figure set as a minimum bid as a result of an appraisal might have been too high.
But they hoped the new figure would draw more interest, and board Vice President Rosemary Swanson said the board does not necessarily have to take the highest offer.
“We can reject any and all bids if we feel whoever bids the highest does not give us a plan that will yield great results in the future,” she said.
Before the announcement, former board member Don Shaner asked the board to consider a park district proposal that would turn the property over so it can continue to provide what the park district has said amounts to about 90,000 user hours per year on the 22-acre site.
“I suggest that you negotiate with the park district and find a way for them to buy it,” Shaner said.
Board President Andy Johnson said rumors that the school board had refused to meet with the park district were false and that representatives for the two entities met about the property Friday.
“The goal is to continue moving this process forward and drawing a qualified bid,” Johnson said after the meeting.
The resolution authorizing the sale is similar to the one that announced the sealed-bid auction and includes a provision that the buyer “agrees and pledges that it will make a good-faith effort” to work with the Wheaton Park District to incorporate public space uses. The park district uses three gymnasiums in the 250,000-square-foot building and most of the athletic fields, which are mostly on undevelopable land on a flood plain.
In February, the school district announced the first auction after several aggressive overtures from the park district. Park officials had released a layout plan that set aside a portion of the parcel for light development. But those overtures were rejected and school officials went ahead with the auction after saying they wanted to return the property to the city's tax rolls. Although 28 interested parties picked up bid packets, none came back with an official offer before Thursday's deadline.