District 200 to Write the City, Informing of Intent to Redevelop Hubble

District 200 Superintendent  will write a letter to Mayor Mike Gresk and the city council to inform them of the district's intent to pursue redevelopment of the former  school property.

District 200 board members discussed the future Hubble in the school board meeting yesterday, Wednesday, Dec. 8 at Pleasant Hill Elementary.

Harris will inform the city of the district's to pursue redevelopment of the property and engage in an updated assessment of the property, including considerations of demolition costs. "Part of that discussion might be to engage some developers," Harris said.

Further, he will inform the city of the board's desire is to bring the property back on the tax rolls and eventually generate sales tax, and obtain a cost benefit summary to project some lost revenue and opportunities for the site.

"The consensus here is to pursue some sort of redevelopment," said , vice president of the board.

Swanson reported discussion points from the most recent city council planning session, in which council members discussed Hubble. Board member Joann Coghill, who also attended the planning session, said based on her observations at the meeting, "there seems to be no urgency," for the city to proceed. "They're not the owners so they don't have any urgency," she said.

Further, Swanson said that in the planning session, "a lot of details were not discussed in the planning session—(if it remained public property) would it be a transfer of property?"

Board member Barb Intihar said the district is not in a position to give the land to another government entity. "We promised our constituents that we were going to sell the property," she said.

"It sounds like maybe the city is waiting for us to do this (proceed)," said Ken Knicker, board member. "My thought is—let's put a sign up. I think we should tell the city we're interested in finding someone." 

Swanson reiterated in her initial comments regarding Hubble that when the district asked voters to support the referendum to move Hubble, "we made some commitments." One commitment was that the site would be redeveloped in a way that was respectful of the style and atmosphere of Wheaton—and the site would be a gateway to downtown. 

"As the owners of the property, we need to make a clear expectation and be able to communicate that," to the city, Harris said. After conversations with representatives of the city, he said the city is "looking for us to provide some direction."