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Laramie County School District board approves sale or transfer of Deming Elementary
Summary
The board voted to pursue option three — selling or an intergovernmental transfer of the Deming Elementary School building after the state removed it from major-maintenance funding; trustees were told demolition would be expensive because the building is on the historic registry and the district lacks funds for demolition or repurposing.
The Laramie County School District #1 Board of Trustees voted to approve option three — selling or pursuing an intergovernmental transfer — for the Deming Elementary School building after administrators said the state construction department no longer considers the building eligible for major-maintenance funding.
Trustee Ashby asked for a plain-language overview of option three. District staff explained that choosing sale or intergovernmental transfer would remove ongoing maintenance costs from the district and could return funds to the district, but it would require appraisals and legal review before any sale or transfer is completed.
Trustee Clawson asked whether the district could still receive state maintenance funds if the board kept the building; facilities staff replied that the state construction department had taken the building offline in its condition assessment, meaning the district would not receive that funding while the building remained in its current condition. Facilities staff also said the district does not have funds to demolish or fully repurpose the building and that demolition would be more complicated because the property is listed on the historic registry.
Trustee Burton asked whether the district could restrict future use after a sale; district staff answered that once the property is on the open market the district would not be able to control the buyer’s eventual use, and that the property would likely be listed as mixed-use business unless rezoned by the new owner.
The board voted in favor of the motion to sell or transfer the property. The administration said next steps would include appraisals, legal review and return-to-board reports with options for disposition and any proposed restrictions or conditions that are permissible under law.
Notes: the board referenced a prior work session on the options and directed interested members of the public to the recorded work session for additional background.
