NIAGARA COUNTY: Christian Academy buys county plot on Davison for school

By Jill Terreri/terrerij@gnnewspaper.com
Lockport Union-Sun & Journal

March 27, 2007 12:17 am

— Niagara County will sell land it has been looking to unload for some time and a school will have room to expand if a deal that was given a green light by a group of lawmakers on Monday receives final approval next month.
Christian Academy of Western New York, which has an enrollment of 152 students from kindergarten through 12th grade, has offered to purchase 16.5 acres of county land on Davison Road.
The school plans to move its operations there, from its current home at 120 Main St.
The county has been trying to sell the land for months and lawmakers hired RealtyUSA to move the process along. The county was asking $374,900 for the land, which includes the former Switzer Building and other smaller buildings.
The school, which is currently on a month-to-month lease in a former strip mall, was looking for a larger, permanent home, said Dr. Charles Matlach, a school board member.
Since the cost to build a new school could top $2 million or $3 million, plus the cost of the property, the county land was attractive because the Switzer Building can be renovated and converted into a school, Matlach said.
“It’s in immaculate shape,” he said.
A building that is used for storage but was once a chapel could also be renovated so it could be used as a chapel once again, and a house on the property could be used for foreign exchange students, he said.
The school hopes to move its operations from the mall to the Switzer Building in time for the new school year in September.
Other things that made the land attractive was space for buses to pull in and a nearby playground.
Christian Academy, a non-denominational school, was established in the former mall across from the YMCA in 1993.
The county received several offers for the property but the school’s offer was one the Legislature could accept, said Public Works Commissioner Kevin O’Brien.
The proposal, which passed unanimously at Monday’s Public Works Committee meeting, will need to be approved by the full Legislature at its meeting on April 3.
Contact reporter Jill Terreriat 282-2311, ext. 2250.