In a bid to return to the city’s historic roots, the Poplar Bluff R-I School District on Wednesday finalized the purchase of the former US Bank branch building at 200 S. Main St. in downtown Poplar Bluff.
“I think there’s so much potential here, and I really hope the gravity and the resources of the school district (being) present plants a flag that says downtown isn’t going anywhere,” said Dr. Scott Dill, R-I superintendent, after Wednesday’s closure on the property.
“This investment in downtown is good for the district but great for the community,” school board President John Scott said in a news release. “We are excited to join others in helping transform our downtown into a sustainable, vibrant and thriving area.”
“We’re really excited. The opportunity to participate in the restoration of downtown Poplar Bluff is important to our community and it’s important to the schools. We understand that those two are interwoven. What’s good for one is good for the other,” Dill added.
Conversations with the listing agent had been ongoing for several months about a potential downtown purchase, Dill said.
“I was having a pair of shoes repaired down at McNeely’s and they were talking about it,” he recalled. “When I left the shop, I kind of left there with a fresh perspective on it and started looking at the properties available in the downtown area.”
The school system, he said, plans to move its district offices into the 16,000-square-foot building, which was constructed in 1914.
“In my opinion, central office has finally found its forever home,” Dill said.
On any given day, Dill noted, “we have between 30 and 40 people” working at the district office, plus many more visitors.
First, however, the building will have to undergo renovations.
“We will have a lot of say-so, and we will involve our people in this process,” Dill said. “We want them to be comfortable in a workspace that’s everything they need.”
Renovations will include partial demolition of the drive-thru addition on the south side, a new floor plan layout and other structural and mechanical upgrades identified, Dill said.
The renovations, Dill expects, will take about one year to complete.
The building, Dill said, was purchased for $310,000 out of cash balances, so financing was not needed.
“We’ve had extremely good stewardship of taxpayer dollars over the course of many years, and it’s put us in a favorable position to take on projects like the Early Childhood Center, the restoration at Mark Twain and the restoration of this facility,” Dill said.
He also expects the upcoming renovations to be paid for with money the district already has.
“The community has supported the school system in a big way over the years, and really this is just an amazing step in the right direction for our school system to kind of show that they are investing right back into the community, and being a frontrunner in getting things turned around for downtown,” said Steve Halter, Greater Poplar Bluff Area Chamber of Commerce president. “Although we’ve made a lot of progress — when you have private investors with real money, and the city council pulling in the same direction and a city manager who gets it, and now you have the school system, which is one of the largest employers — this is just a huge leap forward for our community, and especially downtown.”
City manager Matt Winters said he thinks the acquisition is “gonna be a big shot in the arm to the revitalization we’ve already seen up until this point, and I believe this investment by the school district is gonna inspire and give confidence to other businesses looking to invest in downtown. I feel it fits in well with our downtown zoning efforts to have a mix of restaurants and retail and office space available for folks.”
Downtown Poplar Bluff Inc. Director Morgan McIntosh said she was “thrilled to death to see history be saved and preserved.
“I can’t wait to see what you guys do to the building and how many more people will be downtown because of the new restaurants we have coming in and more bodies throughout the day, which means more tax revenue from people eating and shopping.”
The current district office building at 1110 N. Westwood Blvd., Dill said, will continue to serve the school system.
“We have fantastic office spaces now, and we’re going to repurpose those down the line,” he said.
The hope is to one day have a training center available to all teachers and staff in the region.
“We’ve discussed with our board the possibility of establishing a regional professional learning center,” Dill said. “It would service not only educators from Poplar Bluff, but from throughout Southeast Missouri. But, we’re in the very beginning of that conversation.”