School Board Offers Land, Building for City Complex

Free Office Space Totalling 26,000 sf For City Hall Plus State, C-P Offices

by Woody Jenkins, Editor

CENTRAL — Central schools Supt. Mike Faulk appeared before the Central City Council last Tuesday and presented the school board’s offer to provide the City of Central with 26,000 square feet of office space free of charge.

The school board has been wrestling with what to do with the old Central Middle School property at the corner of Hooper and Sullivan roads.  At the same time, the city has been considering whether to develop a city center.  Faulk said the school board felt the donation of space to the City of Central was in the best interests of the Central community.  An intergovernmental agreement between the school board and the city would govern exactly how it would work.

The school board wants to tear down all of the structures associated with the old Central Middle School, except for three buildings in the southwest corner of the property.  The largest of these includes the administration building of the old school.

Under the school board’s plan, the school system would retain the wing of the building that faces Sullivan Road, and the city would be given the free use in perpetuity of the larger east wing that faces Hooper Road.  This wing includes about 26,000 square feet of usable space, Faulk said.  The city would be responsible for renovating and maintaining the space.  The school board anticipates that the city would use the space for City Hall, Police Station, and Municipal Services, as well as City-Parish and state offices, such as Drivers License office, Clerk of Court, Registrar of Voters, and Post Office.  The city may have to offer free space to those entities, in order to attract them.  After Faulk made his presentation to the Council, Councilman Tony LoBue tried to ask a question of Supt. Faulk, but Mayor Mac Watts said questions were not in order.