By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Earlier this month, the USD 428 Board of Education voted to approve the sale of the former District Education Center at 201 S. Patton in Great Bend for $700,000. With no bids on the former central kitchen building at 2201 Broadway Ave., the board agreed to find a commercial realtor to assist with the sale. At Wednesday's board luncheon at Park Elementary School, Assistant Superintendent John Popp said two real estate firms submitted bids.
"Really, what it comes down to is the MPIRE group is willing to give us a commission rate of four percent, and the Keller group is at 4.95 percent," he said. "They both sell real estate, they both list them, they both had a good plan for how they would market our stuff."
Board member Karen Lindberg, an employee at MPIRE, abstained from the discussion and the vote. The board voted 5-0 to use MPIRE for the listing. The district will attempt to sell the former maintenance shop located at 12th and Williams via the bid seal process. To help empty that building, the district will host a sale of surplus items. District staff will get first access on Thursday, Sept. 3 from 3:30 to 5 p.m. The sale will be open to the public the following day with hours of the sale to be determined.