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Signal Middle for sale soon

By: Kelli Gauthier
(Contact)

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Gary Waters

It’s a buyer’s market, and the Hamilton County school system soon will have some valuable property to sell.

The new Signal Mountain Middle-High School left vacant the mountain’s former middle school, which sits on 15 acres of residential property.

County officials say they have not appraised the property’s value, but they know there is plenty of interest over snatching it up.

“It’s rare that you would have 15 acres become available in a residential area on Signal Mountain, so that’s piqued a lot of interest,” said Paul Parker, manager of Hamilton County’s real property office. “It’s one of the (school system’s) more valuable properties. The location is key to the value.”

The property’s value could rival that of the former Red Bank Elementary School on Dayton Boulevard (now a Bi-Lo grocery store), for which the school system received almost $700,000. The Signal Mountain Middle property will be worth what someone is willing to pay for it, Mr. Parker said.

“There may be a project that’s more preferable due to its compatibility with the community that may be a lower purchase price,” he said. “It’s not based solely on the price but the impact it will have on the community.”

Mr. Parker and his office are putting together the finishing touches on a request for proposal for the property, which, when issued, will give anyone interested in the middle school property an opportunity to name his price and plan for the property.

The request for proposal is expected to be approved by the County Commission by the end of the month and then become public for 60 days. The commission and the Hamilton County Board of Education will review the proposals before selecting the one they feel best suits the community.

Any proposal that requires rezoning the property from its current low-density residential designation would have to be approved by the Signal Mountain Town Council, Mr. Parker said.

Board of Education member Chip Baker, who represents Signal Mountain, said he wants to get the process moving as quickly as possible. He said the town already has invested $10 million in the new middle-high school, so he’d like to see the money the board gets from the sale of the middle school go toward the new facility, which opened in August.

“My goal is to get the best price possible and that it becomes the best fit for the town of Signal Mountain,” he said. “I’d like to see us utilize those funds at the middle-high school.”

Mr. Parker’s office also is prepping a request for proposal for the former Franklin Middle School on East 37th Street. Leaders of the recently approved all-girls charter school, Chattanooga Girls Leadership Academy, have expressed interest in using that building for their school.

The school system has eight more surplus properties awaiting disposal. After the requests for proposals are issued on Franklin and Signal Mountain middle schools, the real property office will do the same for the old Bakewell Center on McCallie Ferry Road and the former East Lake Elementary on 13th Avenue.

The remaining surplus properties are being used as art, recreation or family resource centers and a high school sports complex. In 2007, the school system spent more than $75,000 in utilities and maintenance, liability insurance and repairing vandalism on the properties.

“We really don’t want to own the property,” said Gary Waters, assistant superintendent of auxiliary services. “There are a number of liability issues.”

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