Lyons School District 103, which includes the southeastern portion of Brookfield, will spend $850,000 to purchase two, five-unit apartment buildings that are adjacent to George Washington Middle School.
School officials declined to say what they will do with the property, but the district is expected to tear down the buildings.
The school board voted 5-0 at the end of September to approve an agreement to purchase the yellow brick buildings at 4032 and 4034 Joliet Ave. in Lyons.
“By purchasing the buildings and then demolishing them, not only do you eliminate a blight and safety hazard, but you also have additional land where you can expand the footprint of the campus,” said district lawyer Burt Odelson in a memo to the school board. “The Board will be able to use the property for parking, fields, or open space, as you so determine.”
According to Odelson’s memo, one of the buildings is vacant and the other has tenants that come and go. The garages behind the buildings are boarded up. The buildings are both owned by a LaGrange Park resident, Alomari Ayman. A foreclosure notice was filed against Ayman and his limited liability company Lyons Odyssey on July 23. The Village of Lyons has also cited the buildings for building code violations.
After the meeting, three school board members questioned by the Landmark declined to talk about what the district intends to do with the land or the buildings. Superintendent Kristoher Rivera could not be reached for comment.
