[robk1982]

http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/inde...l_for_the.html

Powers, Michigan School for the Deaf would share campus under proposal

Khalil AlHajal | The Flint Journal

FLINT, Michigan — A private investor wants to buy the state-owned Michigan School for the Deaf property under a proposal in which MSD students would share the Miller Road campus with Powers Catholic High School students in new and renovated buildings.

Lurvey White Ventures, headed by Flint developer Ridgway White, would build a new residential school that White said would incorporate state-of-the art technology to cater to the needs of deaf students and lease the building to MSD for 30 years.

It also would also, under the plan, renovate and expand the historic Fay Hall on the MSD campus and sell it to Powers Catholic High School, which has been looking to move from its Carpenter Road location in Mt. Morris Township for years.

Powers officials wouldn’t confirm involvement in the proposal, but did not rule out the move.

“It's been no secret that Powers has been looking for a new site that would meet their needs,” said Michael Diebold, spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Lansing. “If it turns out to be a site that would meet our needs, we would certainly look at any of those sites.”

MSD Superintendent David Sanderson on Tuesday revealed to the plan at a meeting with about 60 MSD parents and alumni in the school cafeteria.

The deal still has to be finalized and would eventually have to be approved by the state Legislature before the sale could be completed and the construction would begin. A price for the campus has not been set, White said.

State Department of Education spokesman Martin Ackley said the plan is being considered because the current campus is badly in need of costly repairs that the state can’t afford.

“There are some physical needs there at the school that the state is not in a fiscal position to take care of,” Ackley said.

White said crumbling brick, deteriorating roofs and roads and asbestos are among the current infrastructure problems.

“They (MSD) had over $30 million in deferred maintenance and we could save the state money by building them a new school,” said White, who hopes to have a finalized plan by Sept. 17.

“If Powers constituents support their involvement, then it would be a nice marriage,” White said. “They both would identify with the campus equally... We’re looking to start construction at the beginning of next year if everything gelled, if all the concepts come together. There’s a lot to figure out.”
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