Lake Township Wants Land; Not Former Silver Lake School

SILVER LAKE - The Lake Township Board of Trustees is interested in the land south of the closed elementary school and not the buildings.

The township cannot afford upkeep on the buildings. According to state code, the township only can use the facilities for parks and recreation.

Lake Township Trustee Molly Bradford, and township board members Francis Head and Wayne Spratt, met Tuesday in the Silver Lake Lion's Club building. Silver Lake Town Council member Stanley Williams also was present. They figure costs to keep the two-story school house open would be at least $40,000 per year. The price for utilities is about $36,992, then there's insurance, snow removal and general maintenance. That's money the township doesn't have. Demolition costs are estimated to be $100,000.

"We're going to ask them for the land, unsure about the buildings. We'd like to keep it for the youth league," Bradford said as she and the board members signed a letter to Warsaw School Corporation to that effect.

The 5.5 acres south of the school is used by the local youth league for summer baseball. Until recently the school district kept it mowed, now the league and township are scrambling to keep it mowed. The league maintains the baseball diamonds.

WCS Superintendent David McGuire advised the township the building would no longer be used for school purposes Aug. 16. Townships automatically have first claims to abandoned schools, with the parks and recreation use stipulation.

If the township refuses the building, the school corporation may sell it for fair market value. The new owners can make their own decisions about the property.

The trustee and her board have been meeting with people interested in the building since last fall. Bradford said one man was interested in using the old school as a residence. Other people looked into grant monies to make the facility a community center.

"A lot people had a lot of ideas, and looked at available grants, $5,000 here, $10,000 there," Spratt said. "But no one volunteered to form a group to oversee the building."

Duane Sells is the third member of the board of trustees, but was absent Tuesday.