FORTVILLE — Mt. Vernon Community School Corporation is considering buying more than 37 acres adjacent to its main campus to help accommodate its expected growth.
The land is located at 8283 N. County Road 200W, north of Mt. Vernon Middle School and east of Fortville Elementary School.
Greg Elkins, chief financial officer for Mt. Vernon, said at a school board meeting this week that the sale price comes out to about $799,400. That price, as required by state law, is the average of two appraisals, one of which was conducted in March 2020 and the other in April 2020.
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Jack Parker, Mt. Vernon superintendent, said the property would give the school system room it needs to grow.
“This allows us a great deal of flexibility to manage our future growth plan and any type of traffic redesign that we would want to do on this side of 200,” he added.
Mt. Vernon approved its future growth plan in March in preparation for the nearly 2,000 new students expected over the next decade. It calls for eventually turning Fortville Elementary School into an intermediate school and possibly constructing a new elementary school.
Elkins and Parker recommend paying for the land by selling about 67 acres the school corporation bought in 2009 at the northeast corner of Mt. Comfort Road and County Road 100N.
The Mt. Comfort Corridor and surrounding area is quickly becoming a draw for warehouse and industrial buildings.
“That property has been an incredible investment for Mt. Vernon,” Parker said. “But it is on Mt. Comfort Road. And while it’s been an amazing investment for us, we do not see us using that for a school in the near future.”
The school corporation’s Mt. Comfort Elementary School is on County Road 300N just east of Mt. Comfort Road.
“We’ve learned our lessons very well in the last handful of years,” Parker continued. “Mt. Comfort Elementary is a great school. It’s located in an area that’s getting hundreds of semis driving by it every day, and that’s not the best thing for a school environment for many reasons.”
If the school corporation were to build a school in the southern part of the district, Parker would recommend finding land away from the industrial and warehouse areas.
Almost all of the district’s growth is coming from its northwest, he continued, adding that’s where the focus should be on potential future developments.
The school board voted unanimously to pass a resolution declaring its interest in the land near the district’s main campus.
“The final sale will be contingent upon successful rezoning from agriculture to institutional usage,” Elkins said, adding that would require approval from the Fortville Plan Commission and Town Council.
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Mt. Vernon’s potential future site
- 8283 N. 200W, Fortville
- 37.6 acres
- $799,399.98
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