BSU to buy Northside Middle School building

MUNCIE — Cash-strapped Muncie Community Schools has agreed to sell one building to Ball State University for $1.27 million.

BSU will buy Northside Middle School, situated on 26 acres bordering the university, Ball State announced to The Star Press just before 5 p.m.

As part of an option to the purchase agreement, MCS could lease the building for up to five years for $1 per year. Ball State also will pay MCS $60,000 annually for each of the five years as part of an agreed upon maintenance plan for the building.

“There was no other competing bid or offer for Northside, and the appraisal commissioned by MCS was substantially less than our appraisal," Ball State President Geoffrey Mearns said in a statement exclusive to The Star Press. "In a past transaction with MCS, the final purchase price was set somewhere between the highest and lowest appraisals. With this purchase, Ball State will pay the full amount of the highest appraisal.

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"We are also agreeing to lease Northside to MCS for $1 per year and we are providing a substantial amount of money to cover MCS’ maintenance costs while they continue to occupy Northside. I decided that these aspects of the transactions were appropriate because we want to support our public schools and we want to support the important work of the state-appointed emergency manager. It’s the right thing to do.” 

Ball State says it expects to close on the purchase by Dec. 15. 

State-appointed emergency manager Steve Edwards said the school district's appraisal of Northside came in at $870,000, compared to the university's $1.27 million appraisal.

Ball State is "doing what it can to help" the district, Edwards said. "They wanted to help us out," added Steve Wittenauer, another member of the emergency management team.

During a meeting of the state's Distressed Unit Appeal Board on Monday night, Edwards advised against an "abrupt closing" of Northside, which he said would just accelerate the loss of enrollment that is killing the district financially. The fewer students who attend MCS the less funding it receives from the state.

The emergency managers also had advertised three shuttered elementary schools for sale: Mitchell, Storer and Sutton, which were closed after the 2016-17 school year.

The university appraised Mitchell at $385,000, more than twice what the school district appraised it at ($165,000), Edwards told The Star Press.

The emergency managers also received a letter of intent from a private developer to buy Mitchell, but Edwards declined to release the developer's offer or identity, citing a confidentiality agreement. 

He said emergency managers expect to receive bids in the future for Storer and Sutton.

In a statement released to all media, Mearns said the purchase of Northside was "consistent with the university's long-term plan to strategically acquire property adjacent to campus. We believe that Ball State has an opportunity to be a good neighbor and a solid contributor to this community by purchasing this land. In the end, this is a strategic investment for the university and a benefit to the community."

While Northside remains open,t and Southside Middle School are far below capacity as enrollment in MCS continues to decline.

No decision has been made yet on the future of Northside, which will now be owned by Ball State but leased to MCS.

"The Northside Middle School property was added to the list of available properties as BSU has indicated on several occasions that they would be interested in securing the NMS campus for their long-term needs," MCS Superintendent Steve Baule told The Star Press in September. "At the same time, BSU has indicated they would be agreeable to a lease-back provision so NMS could remain for some time."

Northside was built in 1970. Wilson Middle School, constructed on a 58-acre property in 1995, sold for $2 million in 2015, a year after it was shuttered.

Baule earlier this year recommended closing Northside in addition to the three elementary schools. 

At that time, the school board voted for a plan to sell Northside and lease it back for $1 a year for up to five years — with the sale proceeds to help fund construction of a new middle school on the north side where Storer now stands. The plan also recommended building a new elementary school on the south side to replace Sutton and Grissom elementary schools.

After that vote, MCS issued a statement:

"The board decided to keep Northside Middle School open for the 2017-18 school year; this will give the community the opportunity to decide if we can support two middle schools. This may well lead to a referendum later in the year where we can ask the community whether or not to continue a two middle schools’ solution for the Muncie Community Schools. We believe a group is forming for this purpose. A referendum would likely also include a new south side elementary school and funds to complete facilities upgrades long overdue."

The proposed referendum was later tabled.

Seth Slabaugh is an education reporter at The Star Press who can be reached at (765) 213-5834 or seths@muncie.gannett.com.