Traverse City Record-Eagle

East Bay

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  • The Black School House on the corner of Hammond and Three Mile roads in East Bay Township. Record-Eagle file photo/Douglas Tesner

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June 19, 2010

East Bay may buy schoolhouse at discount

BY BRIAN McGILLIVARY bmcgillivary@record-eagle.com

TRAVERSE CITY — Patience may pay off for East Bay Township, which could purchase a historic, one-room schoolhouse at a big discount.

Township officials for years have eyed the 19th century structure known as the Black School, and are intrigued by its historical and educational potential. It sits on 1.67 acres of commercially zoned land at the busy Hammond and Three Mile roads intersection, a prime site that prompted owners in 2008 to list it for $980,000.

The price dropped to $880,000 this year, and owners made township officials an even better offer this week, saying they'd part with it for $354,600.

Marcia Imlay and her husband, Larry Hill, of Fife Lake, said they'd be willing to sell on a land contract with 20 percent down and payments of $3,000 a month for 10 years at 5 percent interest.

"I have hoped we could acquire the property as a historical center to show kids how school was taught in the past," said East Bay Township Clerk Sue Courtade. "It would all be wonderful, but I'm concerned about the economy and how to make this happen. There's a lot to consider."

The township back in 2008 looked for grants and other ways to fund the purchase when Imlay and Hill initially offered it to East Bay for $711,600.

"We couldn't find any grants, and then the economy went bad," Courtade said.

This time Imlay and Hill set the price at $654,600, based on its assessed value, and will donate $300,000 to the purchase, said Bob Reamer, the family's representative.

"They have a strong interest in preserving the schoolhouse and they are at a point in their life that getting it into public ownership is more important to them than getting top dollar," Reamer said. "But they are not in a position where they can give it outright to the township."

Imlay inherited the property from her mother, a retired teacher who ran a teachers supply store at the school into the 1990s. Imlay also offered to donate the original desks, school bell, attendance records and other school artifacts.

One of the last operating one-room schoolhouses in the area, it was built by farmer Edwin Black around 1898, and continued to be used into the 1960s.

The property is contiguous to the township hall and library.

The township board referred the offer to its capital improvement committee for review.

The offer will remain on the table for 30 days, but Reamer said the owners are open to extending it if the township works toward a purchase.

"They just want a resolution one way or the other," Reamer said. "If the township doesn't want it they'll pursue other options ... to liquidate the property."

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