Where students attended school for a century, patients could soon see their doctors.
With a bid of $750,000, Geisinger Community Medical Center purchased John Audubon Elementary School at the Scranton School District's auction Thursday. Geisinger will most likely demolish the building, though there are no specific plans for the site, said Robert Davies, the health system's chief support services officer.
After moving students out of the school in 2010 because of mold, the district permanently shuttered the school earlier this year because it was too expensive to reopen.
With no specific plans for the site, GCMC may first demolish the school and use the property as a staging area for the hospital's upcoming expansion project.
Thursday's auction included two other bidders, developers Louis Costanzo and Tom Senofonte, who dropped out before the minimum bid was met. The original high bid of Geisinger was $350,000, but was increased to gradually to $750,000 so the property's appraised value had been met. Without meeting the appraised value, the property would not have been sold at the auction.
Money from the sale will be used as a revenue source for the 2013 budget, district solicitor John Minora said. Closing on the property is expected in 90 days.
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