Riverside’s School Board recently voted to approve a purchase agreement for land to support its Riverview Elementary School expansion project. The approximately 3.65 acres are located west and northwest of the current elementary school building and are owned by Robert P. Sidley, Trustee, according to district and county records. The district will pay $75,000 per acre. The school board unanimously approved the agreement earlier in January. “The acquisition of the land is necessary to accommodate the current proposed building addition and additional parking,” said district Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer Gary Platko in an email. “This is assuming all of our due diligence confirms that we are able to build on the property.” A January board communication update prepared by Board President Scott Fishel and district Marketing and Communications Director Nick Carrabine stated that the new land will allow the district to build around 60 new parking spaces at Riverview. The update said that the new land will provide a place to drop off and pick up preschool students, adding that it will not increase traffic congestion because the preschool start and end times are different from the rest of the school. The land will also support the planned eight-classroom addition and a new secure entrance, the update stated. The board voted 3-2 in September to approve the Riverview expansion project, which was one of two options that had been discussed to address space concerns in district elementary schools. The board communication added that the new addition will help address the expected construction of around 1,500 houses in Painesville Township in the coming years, including the adjacent Villages at Casement development and the Fairway Pines, Greyhawk Landing and Harbor Crossing developments. The Villages at Casement development may also include up to 418 apartment and senior-living units. ThenDesign Architecture representative Ryan Schmit demonstrated a conceptual site plan for the Riverview addition at a December board meeting. That presentation showed the eight-classroom addition being built west of the school’s westernmost classroom wing, with a parking lot to the west of that.