Grambau Education Center to be listed for sale
ROGERS CITY — The Rogers City Area Schools Board of Education decided Monday it would allow Superintendent Nick Hein to sign an agreement with Traverse City-based Three West Commercial Real Estate Consulting to list the Grambau Education Center for sale.
Located on 1.9-acres of property at 251 Huron Ave., the Grambau Education Center will be listed for $500,000.
Hein said in 2007 a decision was made to no longer use the building as an education center for students. While it is one of the most nostalgic buildings in the city, Hein said, the school district will realistically never use the building again.
Hein said school officials originally talked with Presque Isle District Library officials and said he would still encourage them to pursue the building if they are interested in it. With the coronavirus pandemic, Hein said, the building may not be library officials’ top priority right now.
He recommended the district move on and offer the building to a wider variety of people.
“We do want to market it, we want to see something happen with it, and the only way we can do that is just by getting exposure,” Hein said. “If we are just narrowing ourselves to one thing, we’re not accomplishing it all the way.”
Meanwhile library officials have been developing plans to relocate the library to the Grambau Center and renovate the building into a space for the community.
Library Director Amber Alexander said she was surprised and disappointed the school board was listing the property. She said school district officials did not notify her they intended to do so.
“The idea was that we were to put it on a ballot and be able to get the building for free and the millage bond would have been able to cover the cost for renovation,” she said.
The library’s proposed renovation of the Grambau Center is estimated to cost $8 million and could include a business incubator, community center, and the restoration of the gymnasium.
Alexander said library officials planned to ask voters to support a property tax in August, which would pay for the renovation.
However, the library would have to reevaluate the property tax proposal if they are going to have to purchase the property, Alexander said.
Alexander said the library has received about $12,000 in donations from the public so far, and if the project does not move forward, those donations would have to be returned.
Hein said the board’s decision Monday doesn’t mean that anyone’s offer isn’t valid. He said it’s the school board that has the exclusive right to buy or sell property.
The property listing highlights the building’s large two-story structure, it’s beautiful architecture, and notes its location is “just blocks from the shores of Lake Huron.” The listing suggests the building could be used for apartments, condos, retail, or office space.