St. Cloud District Approves Sale of Colts Academy Building to St. Joseph

ST. CLOUD - The St. Cloud Area School District has approved the sale of the Colts Academy building to St. Joseph for $2.3 million.

The building used to be the Kennedy Community School and is at 124 1st Avenue Southeast.

St. Joseph wants the building for a possible community center. A citizen task force recently told the city that many residents want a community center.

The task force says residents would like a gym, multi-purpose room for gatherings and a space with connection to the Great River Regional Library system in a community center.

St. Joseph is also planning to replace the roof on the building and reconstruct the parking lots.

The St. Joseph city council will need to take formal action in the future to officially buy the building. District 742 also has to finalize the agreement one more time in a future meeting.

If the purchase is completed the district will need to leave the building by July 1st, 2017. St. Joseph will bond for the purchase in June/July.

The building currently houses the district early childhood programs that were moved to the area after the Roosevelt building was partially destroyed by a fire last year.

District 742 executive director of business services, Kevin Januszewski, says the programs will stay in the building until a new location is found for them.