ORR – A community group plans to purchase the former Orr School from the city and convert it into a community center and suite of business offices.

The group, which includes Orr area residents Wendy Purdy, Jeff Julkowski, Brian Wardas, Steve Koch and Todd Gabrielson, has applied for non-profit status and should become an official 501 c3 organization by January, according to Purdy.

The group has opened negotiations with the city on the purchase of the building. Orr Mayor Joel Astleford and Councilor Bruce Black will represent the city in the talks.

Astleford said the city is seeking $15,000 for the structure. That includes the $7,001 that the city paid to buy the building from the St. Louis County School District in March 2013 and capital investments the city has poured into the building in the interim. Astleford said the sale is also contingent on the group adding jobs in the community.

Purdy said the group, which has dubbed itself the Orr Recreation and Resource Center Inc., has had discussions with potential businesses about locating operations in the former school, but cannot disclose any additional information yet.

“We’re just in the beginning stages,” she said.

One goal is to restore the building so the gymnasium can be used as a community recreation center. Although the group will be seeking donations initially to help it repair and remodel the building, Purdy said they hope to make the building self-sufficient with income from business rentals at the site.

Part of the funds for fixing the building will come from the sale of some of the building’s assets. For instance, Purdy said plans call for removing the existing flooring from the gym and selling it. Other equipment left at the school and not needed by the group will be sold to help provide some seed money for the project.

Purdy acknowledged there are significant challenges ahead. The school’s coal boilers are no longer useable and a new heating system will need to be installed. They plan to heat the basement during the winter with alternative heat sources to help protect the integrity of the building, she said.

Purdy is confident that the community will respond to the challenges ahead.

“We’ve got a very good crew on our committee — a lot of go-getters,” she said. “And we’re positive that the community will donate the time and effort needed to resurrect this dead horse and get it running again.”

Mayor Astleford also expressed confidence in the group’s ability to covert the school to new uses.

“Everybody on that committee is very positive,” said Astleford. “The school has been part of the community for so long, we just want to see it remain.”

Cotton example

There’s reason to believe that the school could be revived as a community center. A group in Cotton was successful in salvaging that school, turning it into a community center and business incubator.

A community group bought the school and surrounding property from the district for $7,500 in the spring of 2012.

The facility, renamed Old School Lives, is home to a handful of businesses including a full-service hair salon, and a store selling used camping, fishing and hunting gear. Other businesses include Prairie Muffin Creations, which sells gourmet palm wax candles and natural skin and body care products, and Bug Creek Soaps, a nonprofit business which sells high-quality soaps made and packaged by volunteers. All proceeds from sales at Bug Creek Soaps in the school go to the general operating fund of Old School Lives.

The former school also has a coffee shop, a thrift shop and an art exchange gift shop. It offers memberships in a fitness center and has space available to host basketball games and other activities.

The annual budget has grown during the past two-and-half years as use of the building has expanded, but executive director Ginger Kinsley estimates the annual utilities cost at about $60,000.

The money to operate the building comes from a variety of sources. The biggest share of funds comes from donations, but Kinsley said other funding sources include rent charged to small businesses operating out of the school. “We also rent to the Allied Bricklayer Union, which runs an apprenticeship program in the shop,” said Kinsley. “We are currently in the process of licensing a retreat center that will bring in money.”

The group also has received a few small grants and rents a couple of rooms as residential space.

Community response to the project has been extremely positive, said Kinsley.

“We have about 100 volunteers,” she said. “They are not all here at once and some may only come once to volunteer, but we count every single one because the least little amount of time makes a big difference.”

Volunteers also help keep costs down in maintaining the building and programs. Old School Lives employs three part-time workers and relies on volunteers for most things, Kinsley said.

“Our calender is full of events that serve youth, senior citizens, the disabled, community groups, churches, businesses and others,” concluded Kinsley. “The diversity of the building and the people who are active in it is truly inspiring.”

School purchase

The City of Orr purchased the school from the St. Louis County School District after the district was on the verge of selling the school to WEP Inc. for $7,000.

Because the city of Orr had the first right of refusal on the building’s sale, it was allowed to submit a counteroffer. The city agreed to offer $1 more than WEP for a total price of $7,001.

Board member Nancy Wall Glowaski had sought to give the city more time to determine other uses for the building, but other school board members were concerned they might not get other offers for the building and would eventually have to demolish the structure, which would have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Glowaski and other area residents were suspicious of WEP’s motives. Research by the city had uncovered the company’s link to several Internet-based businesses, which had been derided as scams.

The city was able to sell off some of the school’s assets, including aluminum bleachers left at the football field, to recover some of its expenses in buying and maintaining the building. In all, Orr City Clerk Louise Redmond estimated the city had been paid about $10,000 for the items it sold.

The Orr School was the third abandoned school sold by the district, which closed schools in Cook, Orr, Cotton and AlBrook and replaced them with two new schools as part of a restructuring plan.

AlBrook was sold to a private party while the Cotton School was sold to the community group. The Cook School was purchased by the Rock Gillson family, doing business as Redwater Inc., in February of this year.