Redevelopment of the boarded-up Calkins Building in downtown Cortez has been delayed.<\/p>\n
Montezuma-Cortez Re-1 school district officials, who own the 1909 former schoolhouse, voted unanimously last week to amend the proposed purchase agreement. The Missouri-based Calkins Redevelopment Corp. offered to buy the dilapidated three-story structure for $275,000 in January.<\/p>\n
According to Re-1 Superintendent Alex Carter, developers sought an extension after city officials backed out of a tentative agreement to purchase the building. Municipal officials considered remodeling the building for a new City Hall, Carter said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Calkins redevelopment group had based their entire financial proposal on the fact that the first user would be city government,\u201d Carter told the school board on Tuesday, Sept. 8.<\/p>\n
Carter explained that developers had since switched their development plans and needed additional time to locate a second user. Without discussion, Re-1 board members voted unanimously to extend the agreement to Nov. 23, 2016.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we get another offer, we have the right to end this agreement,\u201d Carter said.<\/p>\n
Over the past few weeks, multiple attempts to obtain comment from principal developer Becky Barber were unsuccessful.<\/p>\n
The former 19,500-square-foot schoolhouse and surrounding 6.65-acre property, valued at $154,280, are included in the proposed sale.<\/p>\n
Re-1 officials have listed the sale as a revenue item in its 2015-16 budget.<\/p>\n
Named in honor of Dr. Royal W. Calkins, a local physician, the building served as the Cortez schoolhouse until 1947. Junior-high students attended the school through the mid-1960s.<\/p>\n
The building underwent some renovation, including the removal of asbestos in 2012. But efforts to completely remodel the structure for school administrative purposes were later shelved because of a lack of funding.<\/p>\n