Manitowoc superintendent recommends finance committee review $1 city offer for Madison School site

Manitowoc School District Superintendent Lee Tennis urged the district's finance and facilities committee to consider accepting a $1 offer from the City of Manitowoc for the Madison School property, saying the board received the offer April 28 and referred it to the committee for review at a meeting scheduled the next day at 5 p.m.

Tennis framed the request as part of a broader “right‑sizing” effort after the district has lost about 1,200 students since 2001 and continues to operate the same number of school buildings. He told residents the district’s facility advisory group recommended closing two elementary schools, idling Jackson for a year and selling the Madison property, and that the district's real property disposition policy governs any sale.

“We’re in this business called educating kids, not real estate speculation,” Tennis said, arguing that having the city coordinate redevelopment could help attract housing and families back to the district.

Tennis presented three options the district considered: put the building on the market “as‑is” and risk blight; accept the city’s $1 offer to enable a coordinated development process; or pay to abate and demolish the building, which the district’s consultants estimated would cost between $1.44 million and $1.8 million. He said the district’s dedicated capital savings account (Fund 46) holds about $3.1 million, and keeping the unused building open costs roughly $5,000 a month in insurance and utilities.

Public attendees asked whether the district had sought a market valuation or hired a marketing consultant; some cited prior local sales (one attendee referenced a past $450,000 sale) and urged the district to explore whether the property could fetch more. Tennis said the district has received no offers other than the city’s $1 proposal since the board voted in December to pursue sale options.

Mayor Justin Nichols, present at the meeting, described the city’s plan if it acquires the site: the city would issue requests for proposals to developers, set parameters to limit scale (he said, for example, the city would not allow a 100‑unit apartment complex on the site), and aim to preserve neighborhood character, green space and public access. Nichols said buying the site for $1 would allow the city to control liability and site preparation and would let the city set development parameters rather than leaving that control solely to a private buyer.

Nichols and district representatives also explained that some historic renovation projects have been funded with nonprofit investments and state historic tax credits, which can remove a property from the regular tax rolls; they cautioned that a private sale can remove future property tax revenue that otherwise would flow to taxing jurisdictions.

On financing demolition, officials referenced past uses of municipal utilities and tax‑increment financing (TIF) in other projects but said the city was not planning a TIF for the Madison parcel. Both sides said the district and city would likely wait to demolish until a development agreement is in place so demolition costs could be tied to project financing.

Tennis said the district consulted outside experts, naming Mike Packer of Cadence Consulting and other facility study professionals who had recommended decisive action in some cases for aging buildings they called “ticking time bombs.” He emphasized the district lacks the city’s planning and development capacity and presented the city transfer as a way to achieve redevelopment that benefits schools by bringing more families into the community.

Residents at the meeting expressed grief and nostalgia for Madison School and Jackson School, urged consideration of converting the site to parkland, and pressed for a transparent public process. Officials noted the site is currently zoned for school or park use only, and any other development would require rezoning with public hearings and neighborhood notification.

The finance and facilities committee is scheduled to review the city’s offer at the stated meeting; Tennis said the committee’s recommendation could be forwarded to the full board, which is scheduled to meet the following Tuesday at 6 p.m. He provided a district contact line for further questions (920‑686‑4781).