South Bend Catholic school makes land offer after gift barred

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — A Roman Catholic high school has offered $350,000 to buy property that a federal judge has blocked the city of South Bend from giving to the school for an athletic field.

City officials approved spending $1.2 million in June to buy the former Family Dollar store site and transfer it to a new St. Joseph’s High School under construction east of the city’s downtown.

The American Civil Liberties Union argued that the deal would give substantial aid to a religious institution in violation of the First Amendment.

The South Bend Tribune reports the school was the only bidder by the city’s Monday deadline.

Mayor Stephen Luecke says lawyers are reviewing the offer and whether a price below the $1.2 million paid by the city equals a gift.