Meridian buys land from West Ada School District for $4.2 million

Meridian buys land from West Ada School District for $4.2 million.

• The land will be used to expand Settlers Park and build a new community center.
• West Ada has owned the land for around 20 years.
• West Ada will set the money aside in a reserve to be used for future land acquisition for new schools.

( Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)

Tuesday's city council meeting in Meridian saw the approval to buy land from the West Ada School District for $4.2 million. Just over 11 acres sitting next to Settlers Park on Venable Way will become the newest asset to Meridian's parks and rec division. A location the city has been asking about for years.

The dream for the city is to build a new community center, outgrowing the current community center in downtown Meridian.

"With our growing community we need a bigger and better community center and this location will be the home of our bigger and better community center for our community," said Meridian Parks & Rec Director Steve Siddoway.

West Ada has owned the land for around 20 years, once planning to use it for an elementary school.

"We've seen it as an ideal site for us, but it's one, until recently, the district wasn't ready to sell," said Siddoway.

The sale of the land will allow the District to put the money toward future growth where schools will be needed in the future.

At Monday's school board meeting, West Ada CFO Jonathan Gillen told the board "Really this is just a reallocation of assets. Those dollars will actually sit in a reserve fund so as we identify where that will be needed we'll have the resources available."