GREENFIELD — Greenfield-Central school officials are pondering how to best use a sizable parcel of land just west of the high school campus.
The 92-acre cornfield could potentially be transformed into a new athletics complex with multiple playing fields and parking areas.
“We’re years away from utilizing that property,” said Supt. Harold Olin. “It’s all just concepts at this time. Nothing is set in stone.”
The school board signed a purchase agreement in December 2018 for $3.5 million to purchase the land from Bob and Bev Frost, who have lived in a farmhouse on the property for decades. The land includes an airstrip Bob Frost uses to fly his small plane.
“That price was market value at the time, based on three independent surveys,” said Olin, noting that the cost works out to roughly $38,000 per acre.
Earlier this year, the corporation spent $18,000 to contract with Barton-Coe-Vilamaa Architects in Ft. Wayne to assess the best uses for the property. The initial findings were shared with the school board in October.
The architect, Dana Wannemacher, is the same one who worked on the school corporation’s recent design work for the Harris Elementary School cafeteria and a renovation project at Greenfield Intermediate School a few years ago.
Olin said Wannemacher took into account the current state of athletic fields and parking at the current high school campus, as well as projected school enrollment numbers in the coming years, in assessing the Frost property.
Potential uses for the site include the construction of an athletic complex, a new school or career center. Enhancements will also include ample parking areas to accommodate future growth and offset the parking that was lost due to the high school’s current auditorium/natatorium expansion project.
“There are some ideas we have as to what this complex should look like, but we have to think in terms of where we might be 10 years down the road,” said Olin.
School officials first approached the Frosts with a proposal to purchase about five years ago.
Working through the couple’s attorney, the school system struck a deal allowing the couple to stay in their home for as long as they want, with the promise of not developing anything within 100 feet of their home, their driveway or the airstrip on the north end of the property.
For that reason, Olin said the south quarter of the property would be developed first.
He said the school board will take its time to assess the best use of the land and be proactive in working with the City of Greenfield’s planning and engineering departments to prepare for any changes.
“Our proposals include a street going through the property from east to west (connecting to the adjacent Meadows at Springhurst neighborhood to the west), so we want to make sure as we continue planning that the city is OK with what we’d like to do on that land,” he said.
Olin said it would be feasible to create a high school athletic complex on the south half of the property with new tennis courts, baseball and softball fields. It’s all a matter of weighing options, he said.
“We have some repair needs on the current tennis courts, so we have to think about whether we repair those versus how long we can utilize them without repair. Those are the types of things that have spurred this conversation,” he said.
Adding new sports venues to the south makes sense, Olin said, given it’s adjacent to the high school where students could easily cross Franklin Street via a crosswalk.
The north end of the property could be utilized in any number of ways, he said.
A new school could be built there to accommodate growth, which could impact the student distribution in other schools.
Olin said options include the construction of a new elementary school or a new intermediate school, which could bring students from the district’s existing two intermediate schools together under one roof, transforming the intermediate schools into elementaries.
A freshman academy and upper intermediate school are also possibilities, he said.
“We’ve also talked about some partnerships with the city, potentially creating a hub for the police department or fire department on the north end, which could change the fire territories. There are a myriad of things that could end up on that property,” Olin said.
The superintendent said it takes years for proper planning, comparing current facilities to future needs while assessing what types of structures would be suitable for this particular piece of land, taking location, ground elevation and other factors into account.
“It takes a long time to put that all together. If we could have those improvements in place 10 years from now, I think that would be a success for us,” he said.
Understanding the school system’s projected enrollment numbers is key to the discussion.
“Right now our enrollment in grades (kindergarten through sixth grade) are pretty low compared to grades 7-12. We’ll also have to take into consideration the ages of the buildings we have,” said Olin.
“Harris and Weston (elementaries) are 60-plus years old, and (Greenfield Intermediate School) is of similar age. Those are things we’ll have or take into consideration as we plan for the future. You can never start talking about it too early,” he said.
No matter what ends up on the 92-acre parcel of land west of the high school, Olin said it will no doubt be of great benefit to the school district.
“When looking at the Indianapolis doughnut areas, we’re the last (school corporation) not to grow,” said Olin, who anticipates the growth will come.
It’s all a matter of being prepared, he said. “We have an opportunity to (use this land to) prepare for growth and to expand and enrich some of our programs, so that’s what we’re trying to do.”
