School District Pivots; Now Eyeing Meyer Building Lease

The Meyer Building on the campus of the Glenwood Resource Center is back on the radar for the Glenwood Community School District.

The vacant building that once served as a schoolhouse for children living on the campus and later as the Glenwood Middle School, is now being considered as the site for a multipurpose building that could house the district’s central office, food service and technology departments, THRIVE alternative high school, a planned career academy, innovation center and Kids Place childcare center.

Since voters rejected a $39.9 million bond issue last November and a 20-year extension of the district’s Revenue Purpose Statement in March to address facility upgrades, the district has been pitching a plan to house most of those entities in a new building it planned to construct on district-owned property north of Glenwood Community High School. In April, the board of education approved a controversial and much-debated revenue bond not to exceed $5 million for construction of the proposed building, however, the district is now going a different direction after being told the intended site near the high school is not a good location.

“Once we interviewed the construction reps, we brought them to the site and discussions were held. It was their strong advice that we pursue different properties for this effort,” Glenwood School Board President Matt Portrey said.

GCSD Interim Superintendent Nicole Kookier said the hilly terrain of the land near the high school is the issue.

“It’s hard to put a building, parking lot and playgrounds on a hill,” she said. “The cost on the front end to move dirt, remove trees, put in retaining walls and then the parking spaces with the playground to fit on a small piece of property that is a hill was very challenging and difficult.”

The district now clearly has its sights set on the Meyer Building. Portrey said he’s aware of no other property currently owned by the district or available in Glenwood that would meet the district’s needs.

At this point, the school district doesn’t know what it would cost to renovate the Meyer Building. Getting cost estimates is a priority and so is figuring out a plan for utilities – both temporary and long-term - as ownership of the campus is transitioned from the state of Iowa to the local non-profit Glenwood Redevelopment Corp.

The school district and redevelopment corporation have already drawn up a preliminary 25-year lease agreement for the Meyer Building (should the district decide it wants to occupy the structure) that would go into effect once the non-profit assumes ownership of the GRC campus from the state, currently projected to take place by June 30, 2025.

Glenwood Redevelopment Corp. board member Larry Winum told school board officials Monday night the non-profit has verbally agreed to financial terms with the state for the transfer of ownership of the GRC property, but there are other conditions that must also be met before the property will be accepted by the non-profit.

THRIVE, Kids Place and the school district’s central office are currently housed in the 103 Central Building on the GRC campus. There are questions concerning the future of that arrangement that must also be answered before the district moves forward in one direction or another.

Would it be possible for the district to continue occupying the 103 Central Building while the Meyer Building is being renovated into the facility the district desires and what would the costs be for such an arrangement?

“It seems to me like we need to get you guys some cost estimates to see if you want the Meyer Building or not. That’s one issue,” Winum told the board. “We also need to get a cost estimate to get you hooked up on power here (103 Central Building) – either that’s keeping the power plant alive or it’s doing something else.

“We’ve been trying to work on that. It’s difficult. I’ve asked the state a million times, can’t you just tell me what it’s going to cost to run that power plant? They just don’t seem to have an answer – a good answer.”

Kooiker said the district has “draft drawings” of potential uses and lay-out in the Meyer Building and will have a better understanding of the building’s potential after an on-site inspection this week with Meco-Henne construction managers and representatives of KPE Engineering.

Portrey and Kookier were asked after Monday night’s school board meeting if it was a mistake for the district to prematurely promote plans for a new building on land near the high school without knowing if the site was suitable for the project.

“I think hindsight is 20-20, right? I think everybody makes the best decisions with the information they have at the time,” said Kookier, who began her superintendent duties in Glenwood July 1. “I definitely wouldn’t call it a mistake. I would say when we know better, we do better and when we get additional information, we make the best decisions and we try to save as much money as we can and still create facilities and programming that best meets the needs of all of our students in addition to our staff and our families in the community.”

This is the second time in two years, the school district has eyed the Meyer Building as a possibility for addressing facility needs. In November 2022, as part of a facilities upgrade plan, the district looked at the building as a possible site for a remodeled and relocated West Elementary School. The idea got a cool reception from the community and was nixed three months later.

It’s unclear what the district will do if the cost estimates for overhauling the Meyer Building are more than the district can afford or if an arrangement can’t be worked out to extend the district’s occupation of the 103 Central Building past June 30, 2025.

“We pivot to the next plan” Kooiker said. “Do we have that plan? We’ve looked at the different options for the various facilities.

“I’ll say this, I’m worried about the student programs that we serve within this building. I worry about what we do with THRIVE. I want to make sure we have the career center for our high school students and I want to make sure we have childcare for our families in the community. I’m not worried about the people who are central office staff - we’ll find places. We can be in buildings wherever, but we do need a space for these programs to best serve kids.”