El Campo trustees approve sale of old middle school site
By BRENDA SOMMER bsommer@leader-news.com

The old El Campo Middle School campus has been sold to a Katy company for $151,000.

During the El Campo ISD meeting Tuesday, trustees agreed to accept the lone bid for the 17.8- acre campus on MLK Boulevard. That bid came from Ecco Properties LC, although no representative of the company attended the board meeting.

"I think this is a group of investors," Superintendent Mark Pool said, adding he's not sure what the company intends to do with the property.

"I've heard maybe storage facility, but I really don't know," he said, noting he's meeting with Ecco representative Craig Stavinoha on Tuesday. "That's one of the things I'm going to talk to him about."

The board voted to accept Ecco's bid by a 6-0-1 vote, with trustee Ralph Novosad abstaining for a possible future business conflict. Novosad works for Hlavinka Equipment Company.

The motion included a provision allowing Pool to negotiate with Ecco regarding existing buildings the company may want to keep and refurbish. Trustees have long stated their desire not to have the buildings remain and become degraded ruins. They came up with a plan to make any potential buyer place $250,000 in escrow for demolition. Escrow is when a third-party custodian transfers money to the second party only upon the fulfillment of certain specified conditions.

In other words, if Ecco isn't going to keep any of the buildings, they will have to put up $250,000 which they'll get back when demolition is complete. If Ecco wants to keep some or all of the buildings, Pool is authorized to negotiate a deal on the escrow or an altered sales price.

El Campo ISD trustees agreed last December on the fate of the campus, deciding some buildings should be demolished, some gutted but saved, and that the entire property be listed for sale. The plan called for demolition of buildings A, C, D, E, the field house and concession stand. Buildings selected to be gutted were the new gym, cafeteria, Building B, the band hall and shop.

A possible buyer came along this spring who wanted to use some of the existing buildings, but Ecco is not that party, Pool said.