Dist. 200 talks about Hubble contingencies
Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200 officials have a contingency plan in case they receive no official bids on the old Hubble Middle School site. But details of the plan will not be released until a deadline for bids passes.
Board members met in closed session Wednesday to discuss their options. Board Vice President Rosemary Swanson said she had no comment on the discussion and that more details would be available after the bid opening.
As of Wednesday evening, no official bids had been made ,although 27 bid packets have been picked up. If any bids come through, officials will open them at 2 p.m. Thursday at the School Service Center, 130 W. Park Ave, Wheaton. If not, officials say they will release a statement detailing their next step.
Officials say they remain determined to sell the property and get out from under the building's estimated $300,000 annual maintenance expense and return the property to the tax rolls.
“It is clearly the board's intent to sell the property,” he said. “That is not going to change whether we get bids or not. ... From the district's perspective, the sooner the better.”
After an independent appraisal, school officials set a $10 million minimum bid on the 22-acre site and on Feb. 14 opened a sealed-bid auction that ends Thursday. The move essentially ended any hopes that the school district would accept Wheaton Park District offers to buy the land for what it determined was “fair market value.”
School officials included a condition in the bid packet that any developer who buys the property make a “good-faith” effort to work with the park district. About 13 acres on the land are on a flood plain and cannot support development.
The site has been a hot topic in Wheaton for years and that scrutiny increased when the school district opened new Hubble Middle School in Warrenville in 2009. The school district placed a “For Sale” sign on the site along Roosevelt Road last month and also took out an advertisement in Crain's Chicago Business magazine.
Critics have said the $10 million minimum bid was too high, with Wheaton Park District Executive Director Mike Benard and mayoral candidate John Prendiville saying the number would deter bids.
Assistant Superintendent for Business Services Bill Farley said Wednesday he did not want to predict whether the school district would receive any bids.
“There is a lot of interest but there is no way to gauge what (Thursday) will bring,” he said. “Anytime we send out bids, we just don't know. We will see how it works out.”