Iowa City School Board Announces Land Acquisition for New School in South Iowa City

It was lost in the sound and fury of the discussion over potentially closing schools, but the Iowa City School Board approved some interesting property acquisitions during the meeting last night.

After a closed session discussion prior to the meeting, the school board publicly voted to approve the purchase of 15.78 acres of land (two acres of which was gifted) on South Sycamore Street for a new elementary school. The amount paid for the land was $482,300, according to board president Marla Swesey, who outlined some of the details for the audience.

Swesey said that this land purchase will be the first in a series that the board will announce in the coming months as negotiations continue for properties that the district can build new schools on, including the third high school and another east side elementary school.

In addition to this new property, the school board also voted last night to pay $2.3 million to purchase the property at 2185 S. Gilbert St. that it currently leases to store school buses.