It seems the school district hasn’t been keeping at least one of its latest property acquisitions up to code, and they’re proposing the most expensive solution to that problem, of course.
District 150 paid $98,000 — about $38,000 more than its fair market value — for the house at 2126 N. Prospect Rd. in April 2006 — part of a thwarted attempt to put a new grade school for the Woodruff attendance area in Glen Oak Park. That house is not up to code because of a bad roof and peeling paint. Rather than paint the garage and put a new $4,000 roof on the house, naturally they’re talking about demolishing it, according to a report at PJStar.com:
District 150 is considering tearing down a house on Prospect Road because of pending code violations, district officials confirmed Wednesday.
Demolishing the house will easily cost twice as much as fixing it, to say nothing of the equity they will lose. And when I say “they,” I of course mean “we,” the taxpayers. You gotta hand it to the school board — they really have a knack when it comes to dreaming up ways to waste our money.
It’s almost like they had a brainstorming session where they asked, “What would be the most irresponsible, ridiculous, and provocative thing we could do with the properties we acquired prematurely and cannot now use?” And after much discussion, the answer was clearly, “leave them in a state of disrepair until the city tries to fine us for code violations, then throw good money after bad by demolishing them.”
Bravo. For your next act, how about taking a bunch of taxpayer money and simply setting it on fire in the parking lot?
UPDATE: Clare Jellick’s full article appears in today’s Journal Star. It includes this information from the previous owner of the home:
Former homeowner Wilbur Rose said the roof was starting to go when he owned it, but it has deteriorated rapidly since then. He drives by it sometimes and says it’s now an eyesore.
“There was one spot going when I left and now it looks like there’s three huge spots where the wind and stuff has blown it away. It has gotten 300 percent worse than when I was there,” Rose said.
Why hasn’t the district put all of its Prospect road property back on the market yet?
