Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

School board approves lease of hospital building

After more than a decade of sitting vacant, the building that formerly housed the Nevada County Hospital will be put to use. Members of the Prescott School Board have approved a lease agreement with the county to use the building for storage for the district.

The lease agreement calls for the board to pay $1 annually for the use of the building. Prescott High School Principal Jeff Farris said the districts only cost will be to secure some doors so that vandals and those looking for a playground cant gain entry.

Prescott Police have periodically been called to the hospital when juveniles broke into the building. Incidents such as racing with wheelchairs and gurneys have been reported.

Farris said the district has little storage space, and that the building would be utilized for that purpose. Prescott Superintendent Hyacinth Deon said there have been several offers of donations to the school, but the district has no place to store those items.

We think there are some other things there that would be of benefit to the school, Deon said.

We need to do something with it, said board member Tom Cornelius.

The boards vote was unanimously in favor of approving the lease.

Following the meeting, Farris said hed talked to Nevada County Judge James Roy Brown regarding the lease.

He told me to present my proposal to the board, Farris did.

Farris said that there must now be a public notice published, then a public hearing. He said he hopes to see the district able to utilize the building early next year.

In other business, the board heard a report from Deon regarding the need for a school van. Deon proposed trading in a school vehicle on a used van. The board voted to allow Deon to seek out some local options.

The board also approved travel for several Prescott coaches. The men plan to attend a Football Coaches Association meeting in January.

Finally, Deon told board members that McRae Middle School is expecting a scholastic audit Dec. 10-15. She said the audit will result in a report that can be used to further improve academics in the school.

The board agreed to hold the December board meeting a week early due to the fact that school will be out for Christmas break on the regularly scheduled date. The board will next meet on Dec. 12 at 6 p.m. at the PHS lobby.