The City of Wall Lake has been awarded a substantial grant from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to assist with asbestos remediation and partial deconstruction of the former East Sac County (ESC) Elementary School building in town. The city council and ESC School Board have been in negotiations for nearly a year to have the city take possession of the property. Clerk, Chris Rodman, says this grant was one of the final obstacles that needed to be cleared for the deal to move forward.
The city had originally requested $132,000 from the DNR for the project and received nearly all of their ask with $121,700 to be awarded. The former school building is currently still owned by ESC, but officials can now begin the process of selling it to Wall Lake for one dollar. Rodman expects this will be completed by the end of the summer with crews arriving on scene shortly after the 2021-22 school year begins.
By spring of 2022, work on the building should be completed, but the question still remains as to what will become of the former school. City officials had originally hoped to host a community meeting early next month to get the public’s input on what they would like to see go there. However, issues with scheduling have delayed that meeting to the end of May or potentially into June. Rodman is encouraging people to think of what they would like to see it become.
More information on the date, time and location for that public meeting will be released once details have been finalized. The Wall Lake Elementary building was closed in June 2020 as part of the district’s effort to reduce cost and consolidate resources into two attendance centers.
