Fairport Harbor School District will attempt to sell McKinley Elementary School in a public auction. The district revealed details about the auction in a Dec. 1 legal notice. Fairport Harbor Schools wants to sell McKinley, located at 602 Plum St., because it soon will no longer be needed for academi c purposes. McKinley’s students and staff are relocating to the district’s new pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade school, based at 345 Vine St., when it opens in January. Fairport Harbor School Board, during its Oct. 28 meeting, approved a resolution to authorize the sale of McKinley Elementary School by public auction. The panel voted 4-1 in favor of that measure, with member William Lukshaw casting the lone “no” vote. An online auction to sell McKinley will be conducted on the govdeals.com website. A 10-day bidding period will start on Jan. 5 and end at 4 p.m. Jan. 14. Minimum bid for the property, which is 1.43 acres and consists of the school building, parking lot and yard, is $878,860, according to the legal notice. “This property will be sold as-is and “without warranties, expressed or implied,” the notice stated. That minimum bid amount also is the 2024 total appraised value of the land ($115,820) and building ($763,040), according to Lake County Auditor’s Office records. Prospective buyers can walk through and inspect the school from 1 to 2 p.m. Dec. 30, the legal notice stated. “I’ve had some people sending me messages inquiring about the building,” said Karl Williamson, who is Fairport Harbor Schools executive director of education services. Williamson is the person who will show the property to potential bidders on Dec. 30. If the property is not sold at the public auction, the board can authorize the sale of McKinley through a private transaction, the resolution stated. The building that houses McKinley began operating as a school 113 years ago, in 1912. It originally was known as Plum Street School, but got its current name in 1924. That’s when the Fairport Harbor School Board decided to name the three schools it operated at that time after Ohio presidents who had died in office. Today, McKinley is a pre-kindergarten through fifth-grade school that enrolls about 275 students. In the November 2021 election, Fairport Harbor School District voters passed a bond issue that generated funding to construct a new pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade school. Approval of the 3.9-mill, $5 million bond issue helped to secure an additional $47 million in state funding for building a school to serve the district’s entire student body. The new school has been constructed on the current property of Harding Middle and High School at 329 Vine St. This structure is situated on former green space and a parking lot that was adjacent to Harding — along New Fourth Street, near the intersection of Vine. Construction of the building is wrapping up after taking place for the past 2 1/2 years. At 3:30 Dec. 9, The district will celebrate the grant opening of the new pre-K through 12th-grade school with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The first day of classes for students in grades 6 through 12 at the new school will be Jan. 13. Opening day for elementary students is Jan. 14. Once classes are underway in the new building, contractors will focus on demolishing the existing Harding Middle and High School. Harding opened 104 years ago, in 1921. ...read more read less