Board will vote Monday on whether to sell a former Wichita school to private developers

A former Wichita school that has sat vacant since 2011 could be sold to private developers if school board members approve the contract at Monday’s meeting.

The former Price Elementary property at 6123 E. 11th Street, later renamed Blackbear Bosin Academy, would be sold to Garvey Ventures LLC for $500,000.

The building was built in 1956 and sits on more than six and a half acres near 13th and Woodlawn.

Garvey’s vice president of finance Aaron Wiechman said that if the sale is approved by the school board, developers will likely repurpose the property for housing.

“We’ve got a lot of people looking into and we’re still trying to find the best thing to do. Hopefully, some sort of housing that will fit in to the area,” Wiechman said.

Under use restrictions in the proposed contract, Garvey would be prohibited from operating or allowing a third party to operate a K-12 school on the property.

“I don’t think we have any plans to use the actual building at this time,” Wiechman said.

If the contract is approved, Garvey will make a $50,000 down payment that’s refundable if Garvey terminates the contract during a 100-day inspection period.

The school property went back on the market in 2017 when Cook Construction withdrew its bid.

The school board meeting begins at 6 p.m. in the North High lecture hall, 1437 N. Rochester. Meetings are telecast on Cox Cable Channel 20 and online at WPS-TV. The meetings are uploaded to the district’s YouTube channel the next day.

This story was originally published February 10, 2023 at 12:59 PM.