The former Julia R. Ewan Elementary School building was sold at auction Thursday to one of its former students, Bill Meade, owner of Meade Concrete Products Incorporated, for $1,225,000.
"I'm a neighbor. I grew up in this neighborhood five houses up the street and I just wanted to make sure it falls in the right hands," said Meade, who beat out a $1,175,000 bid from second highest bidder Patrick McGee of Churchill McGee.
Meade said he hasn't decided what he wants to do with the building, but he knows he doesn't want his former school to change.
"I'm open to all suggestions, but that's what I would prefer Ö to keep the building the way it is and use it for the community some how," he said. "I think it is going to mean a lot to (the neighborhood) that it is not going to be under some type of grand-sized development."
Meade won the auction, which was arranged after Fayette County Public Schools replaced Ewan with Liberty Elementary at the beginning of this school year. The Board of Education still needs to approve the price at its next meeting on April 27. On top of the winning bid amount, Meade will also have to pay a 10 percent buyer's premium to complete the purchase, if approved by the board.
The Fayette PVA's Web site cites a $2,745,000 fair case value for the 4.6 acres of property on Henry Clay Boulevard in the Fairway neighborhood and the 70,000-square-foot building.
Meade said his winning bid was lower than he had expected and would have continued higher for the two story red brick school in the neighborhood he not only grew up in, but in which he still lives.
"It's a wonderful place, a wonderful neighborhood," Meade said after winning the auction.