GARY â The Gary Community School Corp. closed two more offers on vacant buildings over winter break, adding to the 14 sales negotiated by the district within the last year.
Horace Mann High School and Ralph Waldo Emerson School were sold to the Gary Housing Authority for $5,000 each, according to an updated GCSC list of building sales.
In its sales, the district included the transfer of neighboring Vohr Elementary with Horace Mann, and Spaulding Elementary with nearby Emerson.
The finalized sales bring the districtâs total properties sold over the last year to 16 â moving the financially distressed corporation closer to its goal of shedding ownership of dozens of abandoned properties that city leaders have labeled as a blight to their community.
GARY â The Gary Community School Corp. is progressing in its goal to sell dozens of vacant and blighted school buildings.
The district has sold 14 properties â including its Wirt-Emerson Visual and Performing Arts Academy, closed in 2018 â school leaders announced this week.
Many of the building have sat empty for years, developing into both neighborhood eyesores and magnets for crime across the city.
The Gary school corporation publicly listed two dozen sites for sale in early 2020, following orders from city leaders to demolish buildings at more than half a dozen of the districtâs most troublesome sites.
In early March, Gary schoolsâ leadership announced interest had been expressed for all 24 properties listed â totaling more than 70 offers.