The West Aurora School Board Monday night unanimously approved agreements for the purchase of industrial buildings on Morton Avenue and New Haven Avenue in Aurora to be the home of a new West Aurora Custodial and Maintenance Center northwest of the city’s downtown.
The school district will pay a little over $2 million to two private landowners for the properties at 729, 735, 745 and 749 Morton Ave. and 750 New Haven Ave.
The buildings at Morton and New Haven are centrally located within the district plus have other benefits, district officials said.
“These properties will consolidate storage, equipment and processes in a singular location, allowing the operations department to serve our students and staff more efficiently,” West Aurora School District Director of Community Affairs Anna Gonzales said in a response to questions via email.
With the new site, the district will be able to purchase materials needed for operations and maintenance, including larger loads of salt for the winter, paper supplies and other equipment, she said.
The industrial site along Morton Avenue offers the advantage of having sufficient inventory space, shop space and indoor parking to extend the life of the district’s vehicles by placing the maintenance and storage facility there, district officials have said.
As part of a look ahead to possible projects in the district over the next three years, a potential siting of the maintenance and storage facility along Deerpath Road near Herget Middle School was discussed. That possibility ended with the move to purchase the new properties, district officials said.
The West Aurora School Board at its previous meeting authorized staff to negotiate terms for the purchase and sale agreements between Morton Ave. Partnership and CMG for the properties.
“The property on Morton Avenue checks most boxes, sufficient inventory space, office space, shop space and some indoor parking. However, the property lacks a yard for salt storage and vehicle/equipment parking. We became aware that the owners of the adjacent property, which was not on the market, might be interested in selling. The adjacent property has a yard, building and salt storage, making the combination of properties ideal for our needs,” Gonzales said of the overall purchase of the Morton Avenue and New Haven Avenue sites.
The district plans to invest $730,000 in improvements to the properties.
The district’s savings in purchasing the Morton and New Haven properties rather than the Deerpath site is a projected $1.5 million.
As for input from the city of Aurora, “the city is extremely supportive and glad to have our inclusion in that part of the community,” Gonzales said.
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Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.