Land trade in the works

Another front-pager!

By Janice Kurbjun
Times staff writer

Medicine Bow officials and the Carbon County District 2 School Board have hatched a land exchange plan that should be a boost to the eastern Carbon County town.

Standing in Medicine Bow’s village square is a dilapidated building acquired years ago by the town. Its windows are broken and it currently houses bones belonging to the paleontology department of the University of Colorado at Denver, but has been unused by the school for some time.

“It has become more of a liability than an asset,” Town Councilman Troy Maddox said. “We are out $5 million before we can even get into (that building).” He said the council was unable to market it to anyone throughout the years of ownership.

On the outskirts of town is a building about 25 years old, still in good shape. It’s Medicine Bow Elementary School. At 78,000 square feet, the building is too large for the amount of kids that use it.

“About two-thirds of our building is moth balls,” Superintendent Bob Gates said. “Maybe it’s time to think about building something much smaller in a better location for our kids.”

Enter the land exchange, where the school district acquires the village-square property in exchange for the elementary school building on the outskirts of town. The town then relieves itself of a liability and gains a building appropriately sized to market to out-of-area entities like the University of Colorado, various contracting firms and incoming energy companies.

The school district plans to demolish the building currently standing in the village square and erect a new school with more appropriate square footage in its place.

The new building would be in the “perfect location for an elementary school,” Gates said. “(The property) is right in the middle of town. It has a lot of protection from the wind and elements with trees and homes. It’s easy for kids to get to. They don’t have to cross any major streets to get to the school.”

With the 78,000 square foot building in its ownership, Medicine Bow would have more than potential office space to offer out-of-town businesses. It could also open the gymnasium to the community as a recreation center or health club with the financial help of energy firms wanting to entertain employees. Even the cafeteria has promise for the town, Maddox said. “It holds quite a few people” for conferences or meetings, he said.

“The town has the chance to get the old building to come down and put something new in its place,” Gates said. “They also get to take ownership of a building where it’s more cost effective to fix it up than the old one.”

With a memorandum in the works that will outline a three-way agreement between the school board, the Medicine Bow Town Council and the School Facilities Commission, all parties are actively and eagerly pursuing their end of the deal. The memorandum is scheduled to be written and reviewed at the next Carbon County District 2 School Board meeting.

The School Facilities Commission covers the tie that binds — funding. School Facilities Commission Assistant Director Donna Murray said the memorandum should outline funding provided by the commission for asbestos abatement and demolition of the village-square property. It is also scheduled to cover the construction of the new 10,000 square foot building.

“We will provide funding (for the school) and some technical assistance through our project managers,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Medicine Bow Town Council is searching for grants with the help of the Carbon County Economic Development Corporation to cover renovations in the current elementary school if the memorandum is signed.