The Monterey School Building has been purchased by a pair of local business owners. Lawrence and Diana Loehmer submitted the high bid of $60,000 for the former school and the surrounding property. Their bid was formally accepted Monday by the Culver School Board.
Interim Superintendent Chuck Kitchell expressed his support of the deal. “That’s one of the best things, I think, about it is it’s going local, and we really appreciate that,” he said. “I think the people of Monterey appreciate that. So not only are we pleased with the amount – I mean, that’s great – we’re really pleased that it’s staying local, so again, thank you for that.”
The Loehmers’ $60,000 bid is more or less consistent with two appraisals the corporation received for the property. More importantly, though, the corporation expects to save about $50,000 a year on maintenance costs. The building has largely sat vacant for the past five years.
Several school board members added their thanks to the Loehmers for buying the building. “Definitely time to move on with it,” said Ryan Sieber. “Unfortunately, our enrollment does not dictate we reopen it. So here we are.”
At this point, the Loehmers haven’t finalized their plans for the building. “We will do something with it,” said Lawrence. “We just don’t know what right now.” The Loehmers currently own a hardware store in Monterey.
