Ravenna’s former West Park Elementary School has been sold to an out-of-state realty group.
Ravenna Board of Education voted Aug. 25 to sell the building to Magnolia Realty Holdings of Baltimore, the top bidder in an Aug. 15 auction of the 27,425-square-foot building at 1071 Jones Road in Ravenna.
After an executive session, the board approved a resolution authorizing the sale to the group for $775,000, which was approved unanimously.
The district announced in February that the school, which housed kindergarteners, was to close. Kindergarteners started this school year Aug. 19 at Willyard Elementary School in Ravenna Township, which also houses first and second graders.
Superintendent Ben Ribelin said the Aug. 25 vote is the first step in a “multi-step” process. Another vote to transfer the property will be at a later date.
He doesn’t know what Magnolia or its representative, Kevin Wilson, plans to do with the property. District treasurer Kristen Plageman previously said Wilson flew in from Baltimore to view the property.
“Magnolia has not expressed a desire for how they are going to proceed with the building,” Ribelin said.
City Engineer Bob Finney said the property is zoned R-3, single-family residential. The developer, he said, would need to bring plans before the city’s Planning Commission, which likely would need a public hearing.
Magnolia Realty does not appear to be affiliated with Chip and Joanna Gaines’ Magnolia Realty, which is based in Waco, Texas. The Gaineses gained fame with a group of shows on HGTV, including “Fixer Upper.”
The district, he said, is still working to plan a public walk-through of the building before the building is transferred to Magnolia. An ongoing furniture auction is taking place, he said, and until those items are cleared, it’s unsafe for the public to walk through the structure.
Earlier in the Aug. 25 meeting, Betsy Justice, executive director of LoveLight, which submitted a bid of $750,001, asked the board to sell the building to her non-profit so she can establish an intergenerational day care called Starchild Ravenna, with senior citizens interacting with children.
“You have the opportunity to provide a strong foundation for these children’s well-being and success well into the future,” she said. “I promise when these children leave our program they will be ready for school.”
Earlier this year, Ribelin said another building in the district would close as part of the district’s “consolidation plan.” The district has not named the building.
West Park is the fourth building the district has closed since the early 2000s.
The former Ravenna High School, at East Main and Clinton streets, was demolished in 2012 after the board held a public auction but rejected the top bid. The property was sold to the City of Ravenna in 2022 for a future safety building and city hall.
In 2013, the district closed Tappan Elementary School, which now is leased to Education Alternatives, which bought the former Board of Education office in 2020, saying it would be used as a counseling center.
In 2020, Carlin Elementary School was closed, and the remaining elementary buildings were reorganized. It now houses the district’s Board of Education offices, special services, EMIS and preschool.
The former Rausch Intermediate School, which is connected to Brown Middle School, has been vacant in recent years. That building opened in 1915 as Ravenna Township School, and is the oldest building in the district.
Reporter Diane Smith can be reached at dsmith@recordpub.com.
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Ravenna School Board OK’s realty group’s bid for West Park