JOHNSTOWN – The Greater Johnstown School District Board of Education took action Thursday night to purchase a new building in the city for $625,000 to house its Facilities Department.
The board voted at Johnstown High School to purchase the building and its 2.7-acre parcel at 2 Industrial Park Road in the Glove Cities Industrial Park. The sale is through Coldwell Banker and the current occupant is listed as Daley International.
The purchase would require public approval through a voter referendum.
The Facilities Department – the district’s buildings and grounds operation minus buses – is currently housed at a rented building at 20 Crescendoe Road. The district has leased it for several years from the Crossroads Incubator Corp. But the CIC last October sold the property to Patch Holdings of Fultonville for $200,000.
Asked today how the district will pay for the new building, board President Paul VanDenburgh stated, “It’s kind of a work in progress.”
VanDenburgh said the district is trying to work out a multi-year deal fairly equal to what the district currently pays in rent at Crescendoe Road. He said if it is structured that way, the purchase of the new 28,000-square-foot building will have “little effect” on district taxpayers.
The district spends $29,000 to $30,000 a year on lease payments at Crescendoe Road, the business office says.
VanDenburgh told the board Thursday night of the industrial park building, “There may be accommodations done to the building. We’ve done our due diligence.”
The district plans to make interior renovations to the building on the property to make it suitable for use as work and office space. Renovations would also allow for storage of supplies and records.
Not only did the board support a purchase contract, but also passed a resolution saying no state Environmental Quality Review Act process is necessary.
“It allows us a lot of possibilities,” district Director of Facilities II Leo Loveless said of the building.
VanDenburgh said the building is clean and will provide the district with ample storage, loading docks and office space.
Superintendent Robert DeLilli said the Industrial Park Road site was one of several buildings looked at. He said the district will hopefully close on the deal by late September, but the exact date of the referendum wasn’t scheduled.
“We’ve already been in touch with bond counsel,” said School Business Manager Alice Sise.
Michael Anich covers Johnstown and Fulton County news. He can be reached at [email protected].
