Sale of CAN DO property finalized [Standard-Speaker, Hazleton, Pa.]

March 29--The sale is final.

A 55,334-square-foot building and 11 acres of adjoining land at the CAN DO Corporate Center in Drums was officially transferred Wednesday from CAN DO Inc. to the Hazleton Area School District.

Closing on the $4.4 million deal took place in the Hazleton office of attorney Frank Bognet, proprietor of Can-Do Abstract Company, the district's title insurance provider.

CAN DO President W. Kevin O'Donnell and school board President Brian Earley signed the closing documents.

Bognet said he will file the deed at the Luzerne County Courthouse today.

Earley said he considered the district's purchase of the building at 40 Azalea Drive in the business park a done deal months ago. Wednesday's closing was a standard legal document-signing, he said.

"It was a basic closing. It really has been finalized for a while now," Earley said.

The district plans to establish a magnet school in the Butler Township building with curriculum focused on science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM. The term magnet implies that the specialized curriculum will draw students from districts outside Hazleton Area boundaries.

O'Donnell said the sale is an example of the business community partnering with the district for the benefit of students and the Hazleton area.

"I hope we can continue being partners going forward," O'Donnell said.

The sale provides the district with a never-occupied, energy-efficient building at a reasonable price, O'Donnell said.

"We certainly feel the school district is getting an excellent building ...," he said.

O'Donnell said the STEM curriculum will open the door to better-paying jobs for graduates of the magnet school.

"When you talk about STEM, it fits right in with what we are trying to build in the Hazleton area. The skills gained through study in the STEM curriculum are exactly what is needed in the employment marketplace today and in the future," O'Donnell said.

The district is financing the purchase and renovation of the building with a $10 million bond issue, and is on track to open the magnet school as the Hazleton Area Academy of Sciences at the start of the 2013-14 school year. Construction contracts could be awarded this summer and work could get under way by August, Earley said.

School officials plan to issue another $10 million bond for the former Bishop Hafey High School, which will be renovated and expanded to become Maple Manor Elementary/Middle School. Bond revenue will also be used to update and expand the current Ninth Grade Center.

The district is expected to close on the purchase of the Hafey building in April.

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