MUSKEGON, MI – Under an ambitious $105 million bond proposal, Muskegon Public Schools wants to demolish the last of its original three middle schools and build a new middle school where Mercy Health’s Hackley Campus currently is located.
The district is asking Muskegon voters on May 5 to support the two-part proposal that includes demolishing Muskegon Middle School because of high maintenance costs and its out-of-the-way location. It estimates the cost of a new middle school at around $29 million.
Muskegon schools’ $105M bond too 'important’ to remove from May ballot due to coronavirus
Built in 1959, the middle school formerly known as Steele Middle School at one time was one of the district’s three middle schools. But as enrollment numbers dwindled in the following decades, the district turned its other two middle schools, Bunker and Nelson, into elementary schools. Bunker Middle School was turned into Lakeside Elementary School in 2012.
The closure of the two middle schools left the district’s remaining middle school, now known as Muskegon Middle School, sitting on the outer edges of the district.
The school at 1150 Amity Ave., on the district’s eastern edge, is too far away from the rest of the district, said Muskegon Public Schools Superintendent Matthew Cortez. That’s why he wants to move the middle school to a more centralized location.
“The idea of centralizing the middle school was expressed by district parents,” he said. “They wanted to have local elementary schools, and a centralized middle, like we have a centralized high school.”
The middle school also is costly to maintain, Cortez said. For example, he said, the heating system was built into the ceiling, meaning the first and second floors are heated differently.
“So if it’s cold and you’re on the first floor, you turn on the heat, but then on the second floor it’s like the Bahamas because the heat rises through the floor instead of going down,” the superintendent said. “The facility has insurmountable heating design flaws.”
The district decided that it would be more costly to update the facilities than to just move to a new building altogether, Cortez said.
“When we look at energy efficiency and the integration of new technology, that runs a high dollar amount,” Cortez said.
Muskegon Public Schools is asking voters to consider a two-part millage proposal May 5. The first part, Proposal 1, would renew an existing 7.36-mill property tax for academic and building improvements, which would generate $93 million for the district. The millage would levy $7.36 on each $1,000 of taxable value for 30 years, with no increase from the 2019 levy.
Owners of a home with a market value of $100,000 and taxable value of $50,000 would be assessed $368 per year for Proposal 1.
Proposal 2 is dependent upon Proposal 1 passing and focuses on security and sports/extracurricular facilities. The second proposal would result in a 1-mill tax increase, where one mill of tax equals $1 for every $1,000 of taxable value, generating $11 million for the district. A home with a market value of $100,000 and taxable value of $50,000 would be assessed $50 per year.
If Proposal 1 is approved, the district will build the new middle school, called Charles Hackley Middle School, at the site of Hackley hospital off of Laketon Avenue. Although the building has not yet been designed, Cortez said the district hopes to construct a two-story school with 120,000 square feet.
Mercy Health, which is finalizing construction of a new hospital tower at the Mercy Campus where hospital services will be consolidated, would donate the land to the school district if the bond is approved, Cortez previously told MLive. The hospital plans to continue operating the Hackley Professional Center, 1675 Leahy St, and behavioral health and emergency services, 1700 Clinton St.
The district hopes to debut the new middle school in fall 2023.
Before the district demolishes the old middle school, it would use the building to house Oakview and Marquette elementary students in the following years while the district renovates the two elementary school buildings.
If Proposal 2 passes, which would allow the construction of a new track and field by the new middle school, the district could consider selling the land the current middle school sits on for new homes.
“It’s a great location to re-purpose the land into housing and things like that, which would be huge,” Cortez said.
If proposal 2 fails, the middle school track and field will remain at the old site.
The bond proposals also call for the closure of the Nelson Elementary School property. Built in the 1920s, Cortez said the historic building is too old to continue use as it is.
“Because of its age, it’s just not feasible for oldest part to be retrofitted into a 21st century learning environment,” Cortez said.
Cortez floated ideas of private development and a return to a natural watershed as two possible uses for some or all of the land.
In addition to the demolition of the middle school and closure of Nelson Elementary, the district’s proposal would fund the demolition of the high school’s “J building” and the closure of Moon Elementary School in 2024.
Read more on MLive:
Timeline of coronavirus in Muskegon County: How we got here
Muskegon Public Schools shines Hackley Stadium light on Class of 2020
Betsy DeVos announces $89 million in education grants for Michigan coronavirus response
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