Galesburg City Council discussed on Monday a proposal Monday to sell Churchill Junior High to a local developer but the sale seems in doubt.
6 of 7 council members will need to approve the sale and two Council members Dwight White and Sarah Davis and Mayor Peter Schwartzman are opposed.
The bid is from Extreme Car Wash Holdings LLC, managed by Rob Benedict for $100,000.
Dwight White says he supports appraising the property first and then he might be comfortable selling the building for the right price.
He suggested that this is a “sweetheart deal” and the city is “giving it away.”
Council later in the meeting rejected hiring an appraiser to look at the building for $2,000, with only White and Davis voting yes.
Mayor Schwartzman says he has no suspicions of Benedict but says the plan is light on details.
Ward 6 Council member Sarah Davis agreed with Schwartzman and said it wouldn’t be wise to approve the sale in such a rush with so much community confusion.
Ward 7 Council member Steve Cheesman supports selling the building. Cheesman says if the “school district saw value in this they wouldn’t have sold it for $1.”
Ward 5 Heather Acerra says she believes this project is “unique” in that Benedict has the resources to bring the property up to code.
Ward 1 Member Bradley Hix says he’s concerned that another offer may not come along the building will sit empty for years.
Ward 3 Member Evan Miller, who was already critical of keeping Churchill, says estimates of $7.5 million to convert Churchill don’t include recent water damage to the school’s gym floor.
There was almost an hour of public comment with many urging the city to not sell or at least delay a sale.
There have also been some allegations that Council hasn’t been honest about when this deal came to be.
Interim City Manager Wayne Carl explained that Benedict submitted his offer to city administration last Monday afternoon and Carl sent that information to Council right before the last meeting.
Ward 1 Alderman Hix says this would be a difficult property to appraise since there are few comparable buildings.
Cheesman says he’s not sure an appraisal would accomplish since an appraised price could be very different than what the market will offer.
Additionally, Interim City Manager Carl says that funding announced by U.S. Sen Dick Durbin is not tied specifically to Churchill and can be used for a community center at any sight.
