Shutdown Sandburg School in Anoka could play new role

Anoka's former Sandburg Middle School, one of eight schools shut down last fall, could be getting a new lease on school-related life.

Anoka-Hennepin School District plans call for Sandburg to house a staff training site now housed in another district building. The district's Sandburg proposal also recommends that the school's media center be converted to the school board's new meeting room. The school's gyms would be opened up for community use. It also might be used to house some of the district's special education administrative staff.

It's estimated that about 60 to 80 district employees would move from the district's Learning Center/Distribution Center (LCDC), in Anoka, to Sandburg.

The school board is slated to act on the proposal in January.

Chuck Holden, district chief operations officer, said there was never any thought given to selling Sandburg once the ax fell on the 106-year-old building.

"It's got a lot of historic value to the district and the community," Holden said. "That was our first high school, and it's well-suited for administration and staff development functions. We've had that on the burner for a while. ... It's a gorgeous old school. It's on a real pretty spot overlooking Anoka."

The board also is slated to act on the fate of another shuttered school, Coon Rapids' former Sorteberg Elementary. District officials want to turn the school into an early-childhood education center. The former school is being used to store equipment and extra furnishings.

Holden said Sandburg needs some improvements for its new role. Those include installing new windows, re-mortaring between the bricks, some renovation of existing classrooms and installation of an elevator. He said those will be paid for with existing district funds. The renovation project is expected to take three years.

The district is planning more moves designed to make the most efficient use of building space and bring in revenue from the sale of a building.

Holden said district officials want to move administrators from the district's main administration building -- the Educational Services Center in Coon Rapids -- to the LCDC. That, in turn, would make the Educational Services Center available for sale.

"It's a little bit of a chess game for us right now, but we're trying to get the most efficiency we can," Holden said.

The Anoka-Hennepin school board decided to shut down the eight schools in the fall of 2009, citing a declining student population, excess space in existing schools and the need to save money. District officials estimated savings of $3.1 million a year. It marked the first time since the 1950s that the district permanently shut down schools.