Monroe County Community School Corporation will purchase the Herald-Times building for $2,977,500. MCCSC school board members unanimously approved the recommendation from John Kenny, MCCSC director of business operations, to make the purchase, during a board meeting Nov. 15.
The property, located at 1900 S. Walnut St., will become a family welcome center, community meeting area and building services space, according to a MCCSC press release.
Members of the “Bloomington, IN – What’s Going On?” Facebook group expressed concern about the decision being made just one week after Monroe County residents voted to pass the MCCSC referendum.
Related: [Voters pass MCCSC referendum to increase educator salaries]
However, no referendum funds were used in the purchase of the Herald-Times building. The MCCSC referendum is classified as an operating referendum, meaning the funds must be used on daily operating costs such as teacher salaries and cannot be used on facilities.
According to the MCCSC press release, no money from the education fund used to pay teachers and finance education-related expenses will go toward purchasing the new building.
The $2.9 million price was determined by taking the average between two separate appraisals of the building. According to Indiana law, school districts must not purchase a property for more than the average of two appraisals.
Related: [Monroe County 2022 school board elections results]
The Herald-Times newspaper has operated out of the building since 1961, but it moved all of its printing and production operations to Indianapolis in January 2020, according to a story from WFIU/WTIU News.
The sale of the newspaper’s longtime home comes after mass layoffs across Gannett-owned papers, including the Herald-Times’ recent loss of a local sports reporter and local education reporter. The newspaper currently names just seven people in its newsroom directory — one news director, four news reporters, one sports reporter and one photographer.
