JAMESTOWN — The Greeneview Local School District will open the doors on its new central office next week.
Prior to the board of education’s monthly meeting Thursday, Feb. 15, the district will hold an open house 5:30-7 p.m. at the buildling, 4790 Cottonville Road, to officially signify its opening.
The building was previously owned by an area bank which had taken possession of the vacant building. Bill Stapleton, CEO of Home City Federal Savings Bank in Springfield, told district officials he knew it would be a good fit when we walked outside the facility and could see the blue roofs of the high school and middle school buildings, according to a press release from the district. Greeneview schools acquired the building in for $230,000 in September.
The 9,000 square foot office building is situated on more than five acres of land, between the high school and middle school campus.
The interior of the facility features seven office spaces, a conference room, a records storage room, a finished kitchen, two handicap accessible restrooms, and more than 1,000 square feet of meeting space. The open meeting area will be used for board meetings, staff professional development, and other community meetings. Since taking possession in October, district maintenance staff has completed renovations and removed all of the old flooring. The district plans to move the board office staff to the facility in March.
Nearly half of the 9,000 square foot facility, which once housed Wheel Constructors and American Buildings Company, will remain vacant for the time being. The district is still exploring options for an educational use of the remaining space. If the space is not immediately needed for district use, the board will seek a tenant to lease the finished space.
The acreage will be utilized for district athletic practice facility. Currently, the school’s soccer and football teams practice on land owned by First Baptist Church and Twist Manufacturing. The new location is adjacent to Seaman Park and the practice facilities will be a huge benefit to the district’s programs, according to Greeneview officials. Middle school agriculture education students worked in the fall to clean up the landscaping under the direction of instructor Doug Wickline. The students will return in the spring to add plants and prune the bushes and trees in order to spruce up the space.
The current board of education facility will be converted this spring in order to transform the office space into preschool classrooms. The district will utilize its maintenance staff to perform demolition and renovations in the office space, which was built in 1984 and has housed the board of education since that time.
The mixed-use facility will allow the district to free up three classrooms in the current elementary building in order to expand student programming for elementary children. The district has been teaching art, computer coding, and keyboarding in rotating classrooms this school year.
The board also anticipates hiring their new Treasurer that evening in the meeting that will be held in the new office space following the open house.
