By Ed Burns, Sun Correspondent
LOWELL -- The Lowell Community Charter Public School is moving ahead with plans to take over the former Prince Spaghetti building, hoping to have a deal done by Oct. 9, but there are still several hurdles for the school to jump.
The school's board of trustees passed several motions at its meeting last night enabling Chairman Allen Scheier to move the deal through its various phases, from signing the purchase-and-sale agreement with the current owner to seeking financing.
Despite needing approval from various state agencies for the $17.5 million project, board member Roger Boggs said he is confident that the deal will go through -- sooner rather than later.
"We are going to go buy this building and have a campus for the kids," he said. "We're prepared to go forward."
To get the deal finalized the school will have to keep several balls in the air at the same time. It must first have the financing terms for the purchase and renovations approved by Mass. Development, which will give a decision by Oct. 8. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will have to approve the bid for financing, since the school will be seeking to spread its payments out over 30 years, even though the board must renew its charter every five years. Finally, the Design Selection Board must approve the architect who will handle the renovation designs.
All of this must be set in motion before Oct. 9, which is when the board expects to sign the purchase-and-sale
School officials previously have said they were confident the building's current owner, Elkin McCallum, is on board with the deal, though there has been no comment from McCallum.
Scheier has said he expects the school to be able to put the money it pays for rent and maintenance on its current location, which totals nearly $1 million annually, toward financing. The project is expected to cost $8.5 million for the purchase of the building and another $9 million for renovations.
The charter school's current downtown location at 206 Jackson St. is about 250,000 square feet smaller than the Prince Building, which is at 38 Prince Ave. in the Grove neighborhood. The larger building, which is about 353,000 square feet, would potentially allow the school to add a gymnasium, auditorium or playgrounds, all of which it currently lacks.
This story appeared in the Lowell Sun on Wednesday, September 23, 2009