Location, location, location?
Members of the Monongalia County Board of Education dealt with that real estate mantra during their regular meeting Tuesday night.
That’s when they discussed last month’s auction of the district’s former central offices on South High Street, which went up for bid last month, along with two neighboring properties also owned by Mon Schools.
The building, which had served the district for decades, brought in a high bid of $325,000 during the July 27 proceedings conducted by Joe R. Pyle Complete Auction and Realty Service.
The identity of the successful bidder for that property wasn’t immediately known Tuesday night.
Meanwhile, that structure has sat empty for the past two years.
In July 2021, the district moved to Sabraton to occupy the former administrative offices of MedExpress on Earl L. Core Road, which already boasted a large, level parking lot and upgraded facilities, including a sprinkler system, high-tech wiring and ADA-compliant restrooms.
Board members mulled maintenance costs and other particulars of the South High Street building, had the district opted to keep it.
The building is right down from Morgantown High School.
BOE President Ron Lytle and board member Mike Kelly discussed the advantage of having a property in such proximity to a school – and a property that could, perhaps, be repurposed by MHS.
In the end, though, both said that the aforementioned issues of upkeep would have to be factored in.
The blockish, multistory building at 13 South High St. contains around 15,000 square feet, but it also comes with a lattice-work of stairwells and sometimes-tight hallways that the district had already considered, as it began shopping for a new property two years ago.
Nancy Walker, the longtime BOE incumbent, agreed.
“I think we’ve got other issues with that end of the street that we can’t control,” she said.
That wasn’t the only Mon Schools listing game for the gavel.
The Dorsey Center next door to 13 South High, which housed the district’s Early Childhood Education program, also went for $185,000 at that same auction.
Board members unanimously signed off for that transaction, as well.
A third property, a parking lot on Prairie Avenue used (unofficially) for overflow at MHS football games and other events, went for $75,000, but the board elected to hold on to the lot – for that reason.
