The Dysart-Geneseo district eventually merged with La Porte City, becoming Union Community Schools. “We saw that when kids started at (the consolidated school) course offerings improved,” he said. When a school is abandoned, there is a chance that it will be put up for sale, much like many schools owned by Detroit Public Schools. Nechanicky said it was a contentious decision to consolidate the schools, but sometimes “bigger is better.” Mark Nechanicky, a graduate of Geneseo and former Dysart-Geneseo school board member, said it’s uncertain whether nonprofits, like Church of Promise, would qualify for the credits, though locals argue the asbestos in the old school was introduced when it was a public building. The school was closed to new students in 1979 and was used as offices and warehouse storage, mostly for the Audio Visual Center. The school closed in 1979, seeing limited stints as an audio/visual center and storage facility afterward. The credits could help mitigate the cost of rehabilitating a building for commercial or industrial use. This now abandoned school in Buffalo is one of 11 former public schools currently sitting vacant. Under the proposal, some of the $10 million in tax credits available for brownfield and grayfield sites, or potentially contaminated land, would be available for public buildings like schools. “We’re watching for anything that might come forward.” It was sold in 1983, its contents auctioned off to the highest bidder, and now sits dormant.ĭave Else, a professor at the University of Northern Iowa and former superintendent, said about 95 percent of the schools he and his wife documented are not being used.Īdolphs said she perked right up when Branstad announced the initiative. Declining enrollment eventually forced Dysart-Geneseo to close the building. The three-story structure housed kindergarten through 12th grade before the merger. Geneseo Consolidated School, just east of Buckingham, awarded 541 diplomas before the district merged with rival Dysart for the 1966-67 school year. But Geneseo had become a fan favorite along the way, boasting by far the smallest enrollment of just 40 students. In Des Moines, Sioux City Central beat the Wolves, 66-31. Not unlike the famous “Hoosiers” team, the Geneseo Wolves reached the 1945 state basketball tournament by beating much larger schools. But the couple were disheartened to find the front doors locked, trapping its historic trophy case inside. The couple got hooked on school-spotting after visiting Milan High School in Indiana on which the film “Hoosiers” was based, a classic story of a small team winning the state basketball championship.
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