Historic school for sale again

The Calgary Board of Education is hoping third time's a charm as it tries to sell one of its oldest properties — the nearly century-old King Edward School in the city's southwest.

The board has twice tried unsuccessfully to sell the historic sandstone building at 1720 30th Ave. S.W., which was completed in 1912.

In 2007, the board reached a $14 million deal with a developer that would have seen the vacant school become part of a condo development with an athletic club.

But that agreement fell apart a year later. Another attempt to sell the building in 2009 also failed.

This time the board has dropped its minimum bid requirement, hoping that with a weaker economy someone will make a reasonable offer for the site.

"I'm sure that's going to certainly be something that is going to cause people to really study how to proceed if they're actually going to give us a bid," said board spokesman Ted Flitton. He said the school has an assessed value of $8.5 million.

The board is still asking potential buyers for an assurance that the sandstone structure will be preserved, Flitton said.

The property is surrounded by 1.2 hectares of land, which makes it awkward to subdivide, said Heritage Property Corporation president Neil Richardson, a previous bidder who has renovated other historic properties such as the Lorraine Block on 12th Avenue S.W.

"It's not sort of off in a corner where you can sell the land and keep the school. It really becomes a bit of a challenge with the location," said Richardson, who will not be making another bid for the school.

The deadline for bidding is August 19.