Marinette Planning Commission hears about Garfield Elementary’s conversion

MARINETTE – Plans for the former Garfield Elementary School in Marinette were scheduled to be discussed before the city’s Planning Commission on Wednesday, Nov. 6.

In late August, the Marinette School Board accepted a $265,000 counter-offer from Green Bay housing developer Anything You Want LLC to purchase the property. The offer was contingent on the city approving plans to convert the property into a housing development, as a deed restriction attached to the sale prohibited it from being used as a school. The Marinette School District still owns the property and is expected to appear before the Planning

Commission for their metting at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 6, in the city’s Common Council Chambers at Marinette City Hall, 1905 Hall Ave.

The counter-offer the school board approved in a 6-2 vote stipulated the property was being sold as-is and removed an inspection contingency. It also included a deed restriction banning use of the property for primary or secondary education to children ages 4 to 18 for the lesser of 20 years or “for as long as Marinette School District occupies property within five miles of the property.”

According to a real estate listing sheet, the Garfield School property at 1615 Carney Blvd. in Marinette includes a 34,500-square-foot building on a 2.21 acre lot. The school was built in the 1960s and includes an elevator, kitchen, breakroom, large gym and stage, offices and classrooms. The listing sheet billed the property as a possible community center or daycare, among other uses.

The school district said it closed Garfield Elementary and Menekaunee Sunrise Early Learning Center at the end of the 2021-22 school year as part of its Rightsizing Project. Sunrise was sold in January 2023, according to a district document.

St. Thomas Aquinas Academy was interested in purchasing the Garfield School building, said former board president Cheryl Sporie, who made a full-price offer of $299,000 earlier this year. But the Marinette School District didn’t want to sell to a competing school, according to Sporie. “I would like to see it stay a school. People in the neighborhood who live around it would love to see it stay a school,” she added.

With the property sitting vacant, Anything You Want LLC countered below the asking price, said Marinette School Board Member Martin Shaw, who opposed the transaction. He claimed the board had “very little information about the purchaser” but accepted it anyway. Board member Brian Ceranski also voted against the counter-offer.

According to a Facebook page, Anything You Want LLC is located in Green Bay and does home remodeling and other construction projects. The Peshtigo Times was unable to contact the company as it does not have a listed phone number, according to directory assistance.

“Trying to get information has been very difficult on who actually runs the LLC,” Shaw said.

Listing agent Karen Kloida, broker and owner of Broadway Real Estate in Menominee, Mich., said she had no information about the buyer either.