'A lot of history': City selling off contents of old Algonac Elementary

ALGONAC — Anyone interested in getting a piece of local history will get a chance next Thursday when the city opens up the former Algonac Elementary School property to sell off its contents, making way for future redevelopment.

According to a flyer, the school building, 1216 St. Clair Blvd., will be open from 1 to 6 p.m. on Aug. 8 with a host of contents, including furniture, equipment, and materials such as books, sold as is.

The sale of items at the school, which previously sat vacant under previous ownership for seven years, comes less than a year after the city of Algonac purchased the property . More recently, the city has taken steps to engage outside entities and identify funding to repurpose the site.

“At this stage, we’re getting ready to work with a general contract to develop the gym into a community center,” Mayor Rocky Gillis said this week. “And then, we are working with a private developer to develop some housing around the building because the building was way too large for us to use as a community. And the housing will help us finance everything, help us finance what we need to do with the community center. It’s great after seven years to be able to put a future in that building.”

Available items will include a variety of larger furniture and equipment:

• One treadmill
• Six smartboards
• 15 whiteboards
• 18 chalkboards
• One media cabinet with fans
• An unspecified number of miscellaneous tables, chairs, desks, and filing cabinets
• 14 computer desks

A $5 minimum donation is needed per major item, according to the city, while it’s a minimum of 25 cents per book.

Items are for sale with no minimums, and all items purchased must be removed by Aug. 13. Payments must be made in full by cash or check, payable to the city of Algonac, and must include a driver’s license number.

Those who can’t make it Aug. 8 can contact DPW@cityofalgonac.org to set up an appointment.

How did we get here?

Months after the late 2023 purchase, city officials gathered input from residents on what to do with the school. It was then residents identified wanting to keep the school’s gym for community use , and in the state budget OK’d this summer, Gillis said state Sen. Kevin Hertel, D-St. Clair Shores, helped earmark $500,000 for that purpose.

That’s in addition to an earlier investment of $200,000 from St. Clair County Commissioner Dave Vandenbossche, whose downriver district includes Algonac, and his share of the county’s American Rescue Plan Act funds.

According to updates this summer to City Council from Algonac City Manager Denice Gerstenberg, the city has been meeting with multiple contractors to renovate the gym.

But they’ve also been engaging with a private developer to turn the rest of the school into affordable housing, according to an early July update, “for working seniors and families.” As of July 16, the unnamed developer was receiving bids for an environmental study.

Gillis was unsure whether that developer was remaining anonymous in agreement with the city. Gerstenberger did not immediately reply to a message as of Thursday.

Last month, the city manager also told City Council members the school property would need to be rezoned from an R2, one-family residential, district to an RM-1 for a multiple-family, low-rise project, requiring a public hearing with Algonac’s planning commission and approval from council.

Gerstenberg also mentioned the developer seeking a state tax credit, the application for which is due Oct. 1. Citing a tight timeline as of mid-July, she said notices on the rezoning and future meetings would go out this month.

“The building has had a lot of history. I mean, I went to school there, as well as thousands of other Algonac residents, so it’s nice to be able to keep in in the community and to be able to keep that gem and the community center open,” Gillis said. “Hopefully, by next year, we’ll have indoor pickleball and lots of activities for families.”

Contact reporter Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com .

This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: 'A lot of history': City selling off contents of old Algonac Elementary