Blair Oaks buying land to expand

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Editor's note: This article expands on earlier coverage.

The second fastest growing school district in Missouri plans to purchase about 25 acres of farmland as it anticipates the need for bigger facilities in the future.

On Tuesday, the Blair Oaks R-2 Board of Education voted unanimously to purchase 25.55 acres of land east of the middle school on the opposite side of Falcon Lane in Wardsville.

The district will pay Clete VanLoo, the owner, $20,000 per acre, or about $511,000 for the tract, contingent upon an official survey of the property. District officials said this per-acre price is equivalent to the appraised value of the land.

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“One thing that was important to us was that the land had to be adjacent to our current campus,” said Superintendent Jim Jones. “This gives us flexibility.”