Back in July, the Worthington (MN) Daily Globe covered Sibley-Ocheyedan’s attempts to unload the old school on the south side of Ocheyedan:
An engineer who inspected the property estimates the continued leakage from the roof and water damage will render the building unusable in two years. One major stumbling block in restoration has been asbestos located in the facility.
Boer informed board members that the district’s attorney, Steve Avery, recommended the district be responsible for the asbestos removal. If the district were to sell the property as-is, S-O could still be held liable for asbestos removal costs in the future.
A little blurb from the N’West Iowa Review mentioned Ocheyedan closed in 2009, so it’s been idle for five winters already. I call back the Globe article from July because The Des Moines Register just covered the next stage in debate over that building’s future: Osceola County’s interest in getting tax-increment financing (TIF) money for it.
The new state tax credit for unused public buildings is a great idea, but one of the major issues with old schools — being chock-full of asbestos — remains. I shouldn’t say I told you so…but I told you so.
