The future of Withrow Elementary School in Hugo, empty since the Stillwater district shuttered it in 2017, will be discussed by the school board at a 4:30 p.m. work session Thursday.
Superintendent Denise Pontrelli said developer John Belisle wants to gauge the board’s interest in selling him the property so he can turn it into veterans housing.
After the board voted in March 2016 to close Withrow, Oak Park and Marine elementary schools, parents protested, lawsuits were filed, and board incumbents were challenged in elections.
Belisle, who was not available for comment Tuesday, has developed veterans housing in St. Cloud and serves on the Washington County Community Development Authority, said county commissioner Fran Miron.
“It was a concept that I felt had some merit — if, in fact, the school was going to sit idle,” Miron said.
Hugo Mayor Tom Weidt said the school is not zoned for housing and does not have city water or sewer.
“There’s a lot to figure out,” Weidt said. “There’s a lot of interest from neighbors about what it is going to happen to it. … Ideally, opening it back up as a school would be my first choice.”
The district is using the former Oak Park building for administrative purposes.
The city of Marine on St. Croix is buying the Marine building for $950,000 and plans to lease it to River Grove, a K-6 charter school that’s operating at Wilder Forest in May Township.