The Future Location For Programs Offered At The Old Central High School Building Are In Limbo

The pending sale of the historic Old Central High School building has caused a sense of urgency to relocate the many programs currently being offered in that building. Back in October of last year the Duluth School district decided to put the building up for sale when they realized that it would cost nearly 48.5 million dollars in maintenance costs to restore it.

The Duluth School Board reportedly has a purchase agreement with a property company based out of St. Louis Park Minnesota, but so far no official sales agreement has been made. The developer is hoping to convert the historic building into a variety of mixed income apartments which has seemed to be the trend for many old school buildings in Duluth. This would be great to have more affordable housing in Duluth and with a building of that size it could really help fill the gap of affordable places to live in the area.

But with this comes the relocation of some programs now being offered at that site. The building currently is home to the Academic Excellence Online High School and the Area Learning Center which are the two programs that would have to move to another location. by October 25.

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Chris Vold  is the Dean of Students for the Area Learning Center and he said he is in favor of the sale but did express concerns over the move. He went on to say:

We're about six months away from having to vacate this facility, which houses two other Duluth high schools, and we're still no closer to any programming decisions for these schools than we were five months ago when we learned this building was sold.

As with many very old historical buildings in Duluth hopefully the sale will go through so the building can be maintained and also serve a great need for residents of the community. Plus this way the city is not having to spend the money to restore the building.