La Grande Middle School Considering Selling its Modular Classroom Buildings
By Garrett Christensen on Friday, October 14th, 2022 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
LA GRANDE – The La Grande School District (LGSD) recently received a bond for the construction of a multi-use Athletic Academic Center to be built near the La Grande Middle School. However, current plans for the new structure overlap with the currently in use modular classroom buildings. As such, the LGSD have made plans to remove the modulars in order to make way for the new center.
Originally purchased from the Milton-Freewater school district in 2002 for a symbolic one dollar, the structures are near the end of their useful lifespan. Concerns have also been raised over the cost efficiency of relocating the structures to new school grounds. According to superintendent George Mendoza, nearly $200,000 dollars were spent in the initial instillation due to transport, utility and foundation laying costs with similar if not greater costs being predicted if they were moved again. As stated by Mendoza:
“It’s going to cost us two hundred to three hundred thousand dollars to move them again. The question is, do we want to pay to move them and place them when they’re going to be twenty years old, or do we just sell them? Where we’re at now, I think we’re going to surplus them and see if anybody wants to take them or just see if they get demolished.”
Currently, the modulars house four classrooms for the middle school. Two are used by math classes and two used by a life skills class. Though the school district currently favors the idea of selling the modulars, a final decision has not been reached. If the modulars do end up being sold as surplus, they will be listed in a public auction according to Mendoza.
