On Sunday, Pastor Clark Helvey from Berachah announced to those who attended the ground-breaking for Elley’s Hope Playground Park at Lefferson Park, that the church possessed the deed to the property. The church was the highest bidder at a public auction last year for the school and the surrounding 60 acres. The price was 40 percent of its appraised value of $740,000.
Berachah bid $3,000 more than the Performing Arts Academy, said George Long, district business manager.
By selling the property, Long said the district won’t have to demolish the school at a cost of $330,000 and that money can be used renovating Middletown High School and building a middle school. He said if the school was demolished, the 60 acres would be appraised at $250,000.
The sale of the former Verity school leaves the district with eight unused properties, Long said. Those include the six acres of Central Avenue that housed the now demolished Roosevelt Elementary School. Long said the properties won’t be reappraised until the district is closer to selling them. With the “economic downturn,” it made no sense to sell the land, he said.
Long stressed that the district, despite public perception, doesn’t own the former Lincoln School property on Central Avenue.
Berachah Pastor Lamar Ferrell said restoration of the former Verity School, which closed in 2012 as a way to reduce $5 million from the district’s budget, is estimated at $1.6 million, meaning the total investment will be about $1.9 million. Berachah has secured a feasibility study and master site plan from the McKnight Group, a Grove City-based company, and the church is ready to move ahead with construction, he said.
Berachah has been approved for financing through American Saving Bank and the church is debt free, he stressed. He said the generosity initiative is called Overflow and the goal was to raise $700,000 over the next three years, he said.
But as of this week, the congregation has pledged $1,031,000, he said.
The plans call for a 1,000-seat sanctuary to be built on the front of the building that faces Breiel Boulevard. Ferrell said the property would be used to serve the community in numerous ways, including seasonal outreach at Freedom Court, a summer lunch program, Vacation Bible School, a community health clinic, Red Cross classes, children’s summer theatre, after-school mentoring, community rooms, Upward Sports, practice fields and Elley’s Hope Playground, designated for children with disabilities.
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