Time is up on old gym

Greene County has an enviable opportunity to provide some long-needed upscale rental apartment housing close to downtown in Jefferson. The Greene County Community school board deserves encouragement for its potential role in seeing the vision become a reality.

A seasoned developer, Nate Adams, several months ago presented the school board his proposal to repurpose the three-story former middle school building two blocks southwest of the downtown square into comfortable apartments, more than two dozen of them. Adams is familiar with similar projects converting former school buildings elsewhere in Iowa, with highly successful results.

The school district, after constructing a state-of-the-art new high school and career academy on Highway 30 at the north edge of the city, and subsequently moving the middle school classes into the former high school building at the south edge of town, has no need for the old middle school. The now-empty building dates from 1921, when it became the upper-level school for grades 7th through 12th for the Jefferson Independent School District.

A few decades later, the school district, by then the Jefferson Community District, added the gymnasium onto the building’s south side, connecting it to the classroom building by a corridor along the east side of the complex. 

The school district last fall opened its doors to both the new high school and the middle school in the renovated former high school, and both of those buildings now contain gymnasiums with ample seating for fans. The gym space in the former high school was enlarged to provide spectator seating. Both buildings also contain locker facilities and workout rooms. 

The gym attached to the now-empty former middle school also included a music room and a performance stage for concerts and plays. With the handsome music facilities and large theater at the new high school, and the music and theater accommodations at the renovated former high school, the music room and stage at the old middle school gym are now extraneous as well.

That leaves the school board with the decision of what to do with the “middle school gym,” as it’s commonly called locally. 

The old gym has sentimental value for numbers of local residents. I’m one of them.

Growing up, I lived (and still live) two blocks from the now-abandoned middle school. I attended grades seven through 12 there.

In the old gym, I played basketball, rehearsed and performed with the band, chorus and glee club, acted in plays, watched our kids do the same, and covered hundreds of events there for the newspaper. Like many of you, I also attended community events like commencement there, community arts performances of all types, and other public get-togethers.

The old gym is a treasured part of my past. But that’s the operative word — it’s past.

The school district has no need now for the old middle school gym.

The facility has no independent utility system of its own — the middle school classroom building’s HVAC system served the gym. It’s estimated that to outfit the gym annex with a free-standing utility system, install a needed new roof, provide handicapped-accessible restrooms and perform other necessary improvements would cost at least $1 million. 

No one has provided the school board a viable business plan to sustain the use of the old gym. 

What’s more, developer Adams needs to have it removed. 

His financial plan for rental apartments is predicated on an attractive view for the apartments on the south side of the renovated school building. If those units’ view were the side of a brick gymnasium, they could not command the rental price Adams needs to make the renovation a reality. 

In addition, without the removal of the gym, the apartment project would not qualify for historical tax credits. That would also hobble the financial viability of the project.

The Greene County Development Corp. has been working with Adams to create the rental apartment facility, both with planning and with funding help. The Vision 2020 projections for the area south of the old middle school include a new early learning center facility and a large, attractive park-like area for relaxation and entertainment, with amenities for residents and visitors of all ages. 

Bottom line: without the removal of the gym, the school/apartment conversion project and the redesign of the block to its south are doubtful.

The former “pink school” north of the Square that housed grade-school classes for more than 100 years held memories similar to those of the middle school gym for longtime locals, but it’s time had come as well. 

The school board agenda for its February meeting is likely to include a decision by the board on what to do with both the old middle school and the attached gym.

The board will want to have assurance from developer Adams that he will follow through with his apartment repurposing project. Once that’s provided, the board should feel comfortable moving ahead.

We need good rental apartments. We don’t need the old gym.

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Jefferson Bee & Herald
Address: 200 N. Wilson St.
Jefferson, IA 50129

Phone:(515) 386-4161