No plans on horizon for Lone Star Elementary School

The building that once housed Lone Star Elementary school still sits atop the hill, vacant since 2010 when declining enrollment forced the Daingerfield-Lone Star Independent School District to shut the school down. For five years, rumors have flown as to what should happen to the building, and a recent city council meeting offered no new insight on that front. According to City Manager Devon Whatley, the building, which has been purchased by the Lone Star Economic Development Board, was on the Agenda for December’s council meeting. However, it was only to discuss and plan how to preserve the building and get it back to a useable state. “We are trying to ‘stop the bleeding,’ and make repairs to preserve the building,” Whatley said. The state of the building has been evaluated, to have an estimate on the cost to bring the building back to where it can be used again. On Dec. 17, the city council reviewed proposed expenditures by the Economic Development Board for the preservation of the building. The council approved to paying “70.36 to BLK Locksmith, to repair external door locks on the building. A reimbursement to Mitch Cox for property clean-up of $577.50, payment of $530 to Moore Pest Control, and a payment of $1,000 to Mike Alcorn for building evaluation were also approved unanimously by the council. Mitch Cox and Mike Alcorn then reported to the board on the current state of the property. The two also offered estimates for the replacement or repair of the property. Cox stated the city will need to determine their goal for the property, before moving further with repairs. The following are estimates given: *Electrical: $150, 000 *Flooring: $4/square foot *Plumbing: $70,000 *Paint: $25,000 (for main hall and auditorium *Ceilings: $12,000 *Walls: $12,000 *HVAC: $50,000 *Demo: $20,000 To continue reading this article, purchase the December 31st edition of the Steel Country Bee, or go to our online e-edition at: http://www.etypeservices.com/Daingerfield%20BeeID312/default.aspx