The Bell administration is no longer interested in buying Libbey High School’s fieldhouse and skill center — effectively canceling the City of Toledo’s plans to turn the school facilities into a community recreation center.
The city had hired the Toledo engineering firm H.T. Bernsdorff, Inc., to determine the cost of converting the two structures into such a center.
Toledo Deputy Mayor for External Affairs Tom Crothers said the cost doesn’t make sense for the city.
“Unfortunately, as you will see by perusing the study and, in particular, the ‘cost estimate summary,’ undertaking this project at this time is simply prohibitive,” Mr. Crothers wrote in letter to Toledo City Council. “Accordingly, the administration recommends the city no longer consider entering into an agreement with the Toledo Public School system to purchase these facilities.”
The Toledo Board of Education on April 26 approved a development agreement that could transfer ownership of the fieldhouse and skill center on Libbey’s campus to the city. The 80-year-old main school building, which closed after the 2009-2010 school year, is slated to be razed under the school systems’ plan. Because the complex’s heating and cooling systems are in the main building, a new system would have to be installed for the remaining buildings. Both buildings also need roof repairs.
Under that agreement passed by the board of education, Toledo Public Schools would have paid the initial repair bill, which the city would repay over three years.
With the city no longer considering purchasing the fieldhouse and skill center, they too are to be razed under the school district’s plans.
First Published June 6, 2011, 1:55 p.m.