Old Slade could be demolished, sold to developers

The district board must decide what to do with the abandoned school. It could vote to demolish the building and sell off the property during its meeting today.

Slade Elementary students are nearing the end of their first year on a new campus. But one block away, Old Slade still stands — as it has since its construction in 1955.

Despite being out of use, the upkeep required is still costing the school district, Superintendent John Goldhardt said. And it’s started to cause other problems, for the district and for the Laramie Police Department.

“We just know that when you have a facility that’s empty, it just becomes attractive to individuals that need to hide,” Goldhardt said.

Indeed, the abandoned school has become a target for vandals or a refuge for those seeking shelter. There have been at least four break-ins this year.

“The other problem we’ve been having is that the building itself … is starting to get vandalized and goofed off in,” Goldhardt said. “We do not want it to become a hang-out center or a place for squatting or to become an eyesore for the neighborhood.”

“Old Slade” has seen at least four break-ins since it closed for the final time last spring. // Photo: Jeff Victor

Albany County School District No. 1 first considered repurposing that property. But that’s infeasible, Goldhardt said.

“The building has been deemed unusable for any student use — which is why it was rebuilt — so there’s nothing we can utilize it for,” he said. “We even considered looking at remodeling it and making it a district office so that all of our offices were in one facility instead of multiple ones. But the cost estimates for the remodel were far more expensive than building a building — so that became out of the question.”

But the district has come up with one plan: Knock it down and sell the cleared, residentially-zoned lots — hopefully to someone interested in building homes.

Laramie, like a lot of American communities, is facing a housing crisis. There aren’t enough homes at the right prices for middle and lower class folks seeking shelter. That shortage scares off potential businesses and economic development and it empowers landlords to jack up apartment or mobile home rents.

Some of the factors behind this crisis are beyond the control of local powers — supply chain issues, worker shortages, the lack of subsidized housing in the United States and the difficulty of accessing the subsidized housing there is. But the city of Laramie has addressed much of what it can do locally — for example, rewriting its zoning regulations to allow denser housing in multi-family zones or to allow accessory dwelling units in single-family zones. Others are looking to dramatically increase downtown second-story housing or to advocate for rent control.

Old Slade, meanwhile, occupies several lots already zoned for multi-family housing.

“There could possibly be 17 lots, as already drawn out by the city before the school was there,” Goldhardt said. “We don’t want that whole property to become problematic. We’d rather see it be used for a neighborhood use.”

The property does feature a significant green area on its east side, a former field still outfitted with soccer goal posts. That spot might be the most missed if the lots are turned into housing, Goldhardt said. But it’s unlikely that the city would buy it to maintain that green area.

“The city is not interested in purchasing it for a park because they already have multiple parks close by,” he said. “Plus the new Slade has a lot of land, which is just a block away.”

Today, the board will host a public hearing near the outset of its meeting, listening to community comments or concerns about its plan to demolish the building and sell off the property. The district put out a news release last week, but it also sent letters to those in the immediate neighborhood of Old Slade.

Later in the meeting, the board is scheduled to vote on the issue. If they vote to demolish and sell, it will kick off a lengthy process. The state’s School Facilities Commission would have to approve the move as they would be the ones reimbursing the school for demolition. Like any major government construction project, the district would then put out a request for proposals and select a construction company for the demolition project itself. After that, the district would have to engage a realtor and there would have to be interest from at least one buyer to move that property out of district hands.

All told, the process is likely to take several months or more. And new housing in the area is likely at least a year away.

The board meeting starts today at 7 p.m. in the Albany County School District office building at 1948 Grand Avenue. The public hearing is expected to begin around 7:30 p.m. Residents who can’t attend are encouraged to share their thoughts via email to info@acsd1.org.