(Seguin) – A former historic school building is officially on its way into the hands of a new owner. The Seguin ISD Board of Trustees recently adopted a resolution approving the sale of the Lizzie M. Burges property. The action gives Superintendent Dr. Matthew Gutierrez the authorization to negotiate and execute the final sales agreement. According to district officials, these negotiations will continue with buyer and local businessman Alfredo Leos.
Sean Hoffmann, chief communications officer for the Seguin ISD, says the former school building is located at 225 N. Saunders just west of the Seguin Police Department.
“The district had put that property for bid essentially accepting offers this past spring. Three offers were provided to the district so we opened those bids during an open meeting last month and we were happy to receive a bid of $300,001 so once we received that bid, our process was to go before the trustees and solicit that authorization from the school board and again, they unanimously approved it so that is going to allow us to begin work with the seller and the agents in order to complete that transaction,” said Hoffmann.
Hoffmann says the district last used the property as a school building during the 2018-2019 school year. He says it wasn’t until recently that the district set out to figure out its future.
“The property sale kind of originated back in 2018-2019, the idea. It originated when our facilities committee which we put together to evaluate all of our facilities and properties with community members looked over the surplus property that the district had including Erskine, including Juan Seguin as well as Burges. That committee recommended that we look at eliminating or selling some of those surplus properties that weren’t being used,” said Hoffmann.
Upon closing its doors, the operation of the campus moved over to the historic Saegert property located at 118 N. Bowie St.
Hoffmann says despite the sale of the structure, the Seguin ISD realizes the importance of the property’s namesake and values its continued history in the local community.
“Lizzie Burges is a historic campus for many. We are looking forward to renaming what’s been known for years the MBLC building on Kingsbury next door to the Admin office – renaming that the Lizzie Burges Learning Center as MBLC has moved to the Saegert campus and we moved the alternative school from Burges over to the Saegert campus as well. We want to keep that name within the Seguin ISD and continue to honor Ms. Burges and her family,” said Hoffmann.
Again, according to district officials, the sale of the property is in the best interest of the school district.
“The age of the building, the upkeep that was involved, the amount of money it would cost to refurbish it plus the land size — the lot is 2.2 acres which is pretty small for a school. Really, the whole package really no longer fit the need as an educational facility for us so that’s kind of the impetus for going forward with this process in order to sell that property so it can be put to use by someone else,” said Hoffmann.
The decision by the Seguin ISD to sell Burges comes after last year’s agreement to sale the former Juan Seguin Campus located next door on Dolle Ave. Renovations of that building are currently underway by its new owner, Spirit of Joy Lutheran Church.