This Wisconsin city is demolishing 4 shuttered school buildings. Here’s what will be done with the sites.

Four shuttered Kenosha schools will soon be torn down by the city, with plans in the works to build single-family homes on two of the sites. 

The move comes in the wake of a Kenosha Unified School District consolidation plan that closed and consolidated schools in the district due to declining enrollment. 

Earlier this year, the Kenosha school board approved the transfer of the four school buildings slated for demolition to the city of Kenosha. The city recently approved contracts for razing the schools, which have been closed since the end of the 2023-24 school year.

Two of the former school buildings, Kenosha Technology Enhanced Curriculum West and McKinley Elementary School, will be demolished and about 30 single-family homes and a park will go up in its place. 

“I think the right thing to do now is to get these down as soon as possible, in the most efficient and nonimpactful manner to the neighborhood, and then proceed with fulfilling a huge need that we have — and many communities have — which is availability of housing,” Kenosha Mayor David Bogdala said. 

Kenosha Technology Enhanced Curriculum East will also be demolished and then transferred back to the school district to be used as a drop-off and pick-up area for students at the neighboring LakeView K-8 Academy. Another shuttered school, Washington Middle School, is being razed to make the site available for a “future development,” said Tim Casey, director of city development.

“We’re most likely going to do that through a request for proposal and then see what developers think the best mix is for that site,” Casey said. 

Bogdala said the properties are some of the oldest in the district and that it was important they didn’t just sit empty.

“Having just vacant buildings sitting in the heart of a neighborhood attracts a bad element,” Bogdala said.

Demolition of the buildings could take place this winter. McKinley Elementary School is 75 years old, while the other properties are all about 100 years old, Casey said.

Homes will match the ‘look and feel’ of the neighborhood 

Kenosha Technology Enhanced Curriculum West and McKinley Elementary School are next to each other and take up two city blocks. There’s a green space and playground in between the schools that will likely be where the new park will be placed.

Casey wants the homes built there to match the “look and feel” of the surrounding neighborhood. 

“We’re going to be working with home builders to see what they think makes sense in terms of homes in that area,” Casey said. 

Bogdala said a request for proposals will be sent out to developers.

“We believe that by removing some of these schools and adding a housing component is going to definitely have a positive impact on not just the neighborhood, but Kenosha residents who are looking for housing options today,” Bogdala said. 

The city created a tax incremental financing district last year to fund infrastructure upgrades to prepare the site for the homes. 

“And then the value of the new homes will create the tax revenue to pay off those costs,” Casey said.

Kathleen Anderson owns a home across the street from Kenosha Technology Enhanced Curriculum West and McKinley Elementary School. She grew up attending both schools.

“I don’t want anybody in my front yard,” Anderson said. “That’s just me living here for so long. I don’t want to have people right across the street.”

However, Anderson said she favors single-family homes coming to the neighborhood over turning the properties into apartment buildings.

“That doesn’t seem very practical,” Anderson said about redeveloping the school buildings.

Other shuttered schools in Wisconsin are now apartment buildings

Other municipalities in Wisconsin have redeveloped old school properties into affordable apartment units.

In Milwaukee, a shuttered school is now an apartment building for 75 seniors, according to a TMJ4 report. A former school building in Randolph was recently redeveloped into 31 affordable apartment units. 

Casey said the city did look at redeveloping the former school buildings into apartments.

“When you see other schools that have been turned into apartments, those are very nice projects, but the economics of doing that now are very different from what they were even five years ago,” Casey said, adding that construction costs have increased since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Casey said the former school buildings contain asbestos, which would cost a “significant amount of money” to abate. 

“I think there are neighbors who … are more receptive to single-family homes, and that’s what we think the appropriate use is for those sites,” Casey said about the Kenosha Technology Enhanced Curriculum West and McKinley Elementary School sites.

Casey said there have also been mold issues at Washington Middle School since the building has been vacant.

“The floor plates don’t lend themselves to redevelopment,” Casey said. “So we’re going to clear that site, and we’re going to make it available for for future development.”