City cancels purchase of John Marshall school, scraps 'Opportunity Hub' - Indianapolis News | Weather Indiana

This story was originally published October 30, 2024, by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters

Plans to renovate the former John Marshall school building into a hub for various services for the Far East have died after the city of Indianapolis pulled out of its purchase of the Indianapolis Public Schools property.

The city planned to buy the school from IPS for $725,000 and work with a group known as the John Marshall Collaborative to help turn the roughly 30,000-square-foot campus into a hub of economic, social and health care services. The city’s ownership was intended for the short term until the project was fully operational and could be owned by the partnership or another community entity, the Department of Metropolitan Development said in a statement.

But the city and development team no longer want to move forward with the “Opportunity Hub” project because of the need for more than $18 million in deferred maintenance costs that the department says would prevent successful development. The city’s withdrawal leaves an uncertain future for the large facility.

“The city had offered to purchase the property provided a financially viable plan for the facility’s day-to-day operations could be completed,” the city’s Department of Metropolitan Development said in a statement. “Despite the efforts of the John Marshall Collaborative, the City and various partners to complete that operating plan, the facility’s extensive deferred maintenance ultimately made it infeasible to ensure financially sustainable operations.”

The sale of the building took place The district is expected to save about $400,000 in annual operating and maintenance costs.

Following the city’s decision, the school board voted Wednesday to withdraw the sale offer. The county is now accepting bids on the property.

“We really just want to cast a wide net and see what interest there is,” Zach Mulholland, executive director of operations strategy, said after the meeting Wednesday.

The John Marshall Building opened in 1968 as a high school. It closed in 2018 as a high school amid academic and facility challenges.

The district offered the building for sale to charter schools and higher education institutions for $1 in 2019, in accordance with state law. No party has shown interest.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at [email protected]

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news organization that covers public education.