Engineering survey OK’d for former Ringgold school

By ERIC SEIVERLING

eseiverling@yourmvi.com

Ringgold School District officials will move forward with their plans to subdivide — or even demolish — the district’s abandoned middle school building on Route 88 in Finleyville.

On Wednesday, school directors gave the green light for architectural firm HHSDR to begin an engineering survey of the property, which has been empty since 2017.

Although the building has been vacant for four years, the district still uses — and wants to continue to use — the fields behind the building for youth football, soccer practice and other activities.

That could pose a problem, according to HHSDR Executive Vice President Matthew Franz.

The survey will study how subdividing the property will impact access driveways and parking lots to the fields, Franz said.

“More than likely, the property line will go through the building,” he said.

School board President Bill Stein said the district has wanted to sell the property since it became vacant, but no offers came that suited the district.

“We were looking at alternative uses for the property, even offers for a commercial property, but none of it panned out,” he said after Wednesday’s school board meeting. “We use the fields behind it extensively. We need to know what we want to do there.”

To read the rest of the story, please see a copy of Saturday’s Mon Valley Independent, call 724-314-0035 to subscribe or subscribe to our online edition at http://monvalleyindependent.com.