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Board approves Artspace sale date
Staff Writer In two months, Artspace Projects Inc. will own Franklin Arts Center.
The Brainerd School Board on Monday unanimously approved setting a Feb. 15 closing date for the sale of the Franklin building to Artspace and authorized a lease agreement to allow the district to lease back space in the building.
Artspace is purchasing the former Franklin Junior High School from the district for $750,000. In return, the district will lease back the gymnasium, the auditorium and other spaces at a cost of $38,934.
"The school will continue to use a portion of the building for benefit of the public," said Tom Fitzpatrick, the school board's attorney.
Steve Dickinson, director of business services for the district, said he expected the sale to go through sooner than the Feb. 15 closing date. Fitzpatrick said a few issues, such as rezoning a small parcel on the property and receiving handicap parking spaces, needs to be addressed before the purchase is complete.
"By mid to late January it will be all the way done," Dickinson said.
In October, Artspace was granted an estimated $2.4 million in tax-increment financing over 25 years and a $875,000 loan from the city of Brainerd for renovating a portion of the Franklin building into 25 residential artist living areas and improvements to the exterior of the building and parking lot and possibly tenant-specific improvements. The total project cost is an estimated $10 million. About 80,000 square feet of the building is already leased to artists and organizations.
Board member Ruth Gmeinder said the sale was a capital expenditure and could not go into the general fund to help offset the $5.5 million in budget cuts that need to be made for the 2008-2009 school year.
In other action, the board:
Certified the 2008 levy of $13,074,748. The levy is 5.8 percent, or $808,000, less than 2007.
Set the board's reorganizational meeting at 11:30 a.m. on Jan. 2.
Adjourned to a public hearing at 7 p.m. on Dec. 19 at Whittier Elementary School for a public hearing on the proposed school closing.
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