By Ruth Anne Maddox, Staff Writer 

It’s more than it needs but the Shakopee School District will purchase 28 acres of property on the city’s west side as the site for its next elementary school, targeted for a fall 2010 opening.

The price tag on the land is $105,000 per acre — or $2.94 million. Voter approval for the new school was given by passage of a 2006 referendum and the bonds for the project were sold earlier this year.

Closing on the property, located south of Highway 169 and east of County Road 15 (diagonally across from Joe Schleper Stadium), is expected to take place within the next 30 days.

The land already has infrastructure in place for water, sewer and storm-water services, as well as electricity to the property line. There also is off-site ponding that the school can drain to so the district won’t have to pond on the school property.

The property is owned by Tollefson Development Corp., which Superintendent Jon McBroom said purchased the land at a significantly higher rate and has decided to sell rather than develop due to the current construction environment.

McBroom pointed out that it was in the best interest of the school district to purchase the entire plat at this time with the intention of selling off 8 of the acres at a profit sometime in the future. The area remains targeted for commercial growth.

Director John Canny said this location made the most sense to him with regard to price, location and utilities and he sees it as an investment for the school district.

While the location was not the school district’s first choice, the property is still on the city’s west end, which was one of the priorities, said Board Chair Kathy Busch.

The school district had hoped to shore up plans for a land purchase this past spring for a 20-acre tract on County Road 78, just west of County Road 15. Those plans, however, fell through when the developer opted out of planned construction due to the slowdown in the housing market. That site did not have water or sewer lines extended to it yet and the developer’s decision tied the hands of the school district for moving ahead on schedule.

Officials previously said that a western location was desired for the new school because two of the newest elementary schools — Red Oak and Eagle Creek — are already located on the city’s east side so that portion of town is well covered.

The School Board already decided that it would maintain the building design that was used for Sun Path, Red Oak and Eagle Creek elementary schools and adapt it to the site chosen for the new school.

Ruth Anne Maddox can be reached at (952) 345-6678 or rmaddox@swpub.com.