City of Orient, school board discuss future of O-M building

City of Orient officials formally stated their interest in any part of the Orient-Macksburg school facility up for sale during a joint meeting between the city council and school board Monday night.

The city council and Orient Area Betterment and Improvement Corporation have worked together to develop a plan to operate community center out of the facility. A community center was the most widely-mentioned use for the school building during community meetings held earlier this summer.

Orient Betterment President Ryan Frederick said he feels good about the community center proposal the groups have drawn up. The school board said they want a concrete answer and felt they got it through this joint meeting.

“I think that’s viable. I think the way we’ve been discussing how to manage it, how to operate it, how to run it is very viable,” Frederick said.

The city would own the community center and the property with the OBC leasing it under an operating agreement. The OBC could have a committee that oversees the facility. Frederick said the advantage to this is that committee members wouldn’t be required to be from within the city limits of Orient.

Next steps will include the OABIC obtaining an attorney to help plan for upcoming steps as well as draft an operating agreement. The city and OABIC will also each appoint negotiators that will meet to plan for purchasing the building. No matter what, it has to be advertised as being for sale.

The building currently houses the library, weight room and two tenants: Bulldog Daycare and a Green Hills AEA Level 3 special education classroom for up to eight students.

School board member Bo Geidel asked who would handle logistics of running a community center like taking phone calls regarding rental and what would happen if it doesn’t make money. Frederick said many of those questions can be answered through an operating agreement.

Geidel asked whether interest has been shown in those wanting to use the facility.

“I think there’s interest out there,” Frederick said. “We obviously haven’t given anybody a price yet either, which always affects the level of interest. I’ll put it to you this way: I feel a lot better about it now than I did in, like, January.”

School Board member Alex Maeder said he wants to help make the school as “turn-key ready as possible” but “we’ve gotta get moving.”

Superintendent Jeff Kruse acknowledged risks should be assumed.

“None of us have been through any of this so this is all learning,” Kruse said. “From the school board’s perspective, we want to plan. We don’t want to become an issue for you as a city either. I understand that there’s going to be risks. If you admit you’re willing to take the risk, I think we’re comfortable with that.”

The school board voted Monday to accept a bid to have plans drawn for the possible demolition of the 1920 three-story portion of the school. Kruse said the reason that this decision needed to be made now is the time frame it takes to carry out a project like this. No final decision has been made on whether the three-story structure will stay or go.

If the three-story structure is razed, modifications may be required for the rest of the building. A separate bid was accepted for making drawings for that project.

The city and OABIC will work on a wish list for the school board showing what they would ideally like done to the building before it is sold. The school has a few funding sources they can work from to make requests possible if they’re legally allowed.

Nodaway Valley is going to allow its staff three nights where they can go to make formal offers on contents of the Orient-Macksburg building.

The O-M board also discussed items such as maintaining the softball field moving forward and who wants bleachers that are on the property, but no formal decisions were made.

Orient-Macksburg will whole grade share with Nodaway Valley this school year with all activities hosted at Nodaway Valley, then it will dissolve July 1, 2026. It is the first school to dissolve in Iowa in the last decade.

Editor’s Note: The Creston News Advertiser’s Nick Pauly attended this meeting, contributing to this report.