Lansing — A Flint area economic development agency has proposed a $40 million offer to acquire a Swartz Creek elementary school, aiming to demolish it and prepare the land for an industrial megasite. The proposal, presented to the Swartz Creek Community Schools Board of Education, includes funding for the purchase of Morrish Elementary School and the construction of a new school to accommodate approximately 450 students currently enrolled there, according to Tyler Rossmaessler, executive director of the Flint & Genesee Economic Alliance.
The funds for the acquisition will come from the $259 million allocated to the economic alliance under the Strategic Site Readiness Program by the state Legislature and Governor Gretchen Whitmer. The money is intended to prepare a Mundy Township megasite for a potential semiconductor facility.
“We anticipate more public discussions at future school board meetings,” Rossmaessler told The Detroit News. “We stand ready to support students, staff, and residents of Swartz Creek as we prepare the site that will be home to an advanced manufacturing facility in Genesee County.”
Governor Whitmer has been actively pursuing Western Digital Technologies Inc. and Sandisk Corporation—companies known for producing memory cards and flash drives—to establish operations at the Mundy Township site. However, the federal government under President Donald Trump has not yet approved financial assistance for the project through the CHIPS and Science Act and has expressed skepticism about the program.
The Flint & Genesee Economic Alliance currently owns about 1,194 acres and controls an additional 100 acres within the planned 1,400-acre Advanced Manufacturing District of Genesee County. The alliance did not disclose how much of the $259 million has already been spent on land acquisition and demolition.
Rossmaessler outlined a relocation plan during a school board meeting, proposing that Morrish Elementary be moved to about 100 acres at the corner of Morrish and Hill roads. There, the district could construct a larger facility to replace the current building, which was built in 1955. Based on preliminary designs, a contractor estimated that the new school could be completed by 2028 at a cost of approximately $39.8 million.
The school board did not make a decision at the June 25 meeting and is expected to continue deliberations. Some community members have expressed concerns about the proposal, particularly given the lack of a confirmed business for the megasite.
Bryan Bender, a former student of Morrish Elementary, questioned the rationale behind the potential sale, citing recent investments in the building and the number of students who attend. “Why would we even consider this when there is no plan, there is no business, there is no site plan?” he asked.
Critics have also raised concerns about the use of state funds for sites where the end user remains unidentified. Rossmaessler assured the board that the economic alliance already has sufficient land but wants to elevate the site’s readiness.
“We could easily section that off and move forward with the site as it is,” he said.
However, school board members expressed uncertainty about their options, especially since the state has not yet secured a tenant for the megasite. Even if a company is secured, zoning permits may still be denied by Mundy Township officials.
“I don’t want to rip them kids out of there if I don’t have to,” said school board member Chuck Melki. “It’s like we’re caught in a snare. Either we pull the plug and move, or we stay there and get built around us.”
Rossmaessler remained confident that development would eventually occur on the land already secured by the alliance. “It’s the best site in America,” he said. “We’re going to get a buyer.”
— news from The Detroit News
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Economic development agency offers $40M to move school from Flint area megasite
Lansing — A Flint area economic development agency has offered $40 million in state taxpayer funds to purchase a Swartz Creek elementary school so it can demolish it and make way for an industrial megasite.
The proposal, presented to the Swartz Creek Community Schools Board of Education last week, would include enough money for the purchase of Morrish Elementary School and the construction of a separate school in a new location to house the roughly 450 students currently attending Morrish, according to Tyler Rossmaessler, executive director for the Flint & Genesee Economic Alliance.
The money to purchase the school will be drawn from the roughly $259 million in Strategic Site Readiness Program dollars the economic alliance received from the state Legislature and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to prepare a Mundy Township megasite for a potential semiconductor facility.
“We anticipate more public discussions at future school board meetings,” Rossmaessler told The Detroit News this week. “We stand ready to support students, staff and residents of Swartz Creek as we prepare the site that will be home to an advanced manufacturing facility in Genesee County.”
Whitmer ‘s administration has been courting Western Digital Technologies Inc. and Sandisk Corporation — semiconductor manufacturers known for making memory cards and flash drives — to locate at the Mundy Township site. She stated publicly in May that it was her goal to land a massive semiconductor project by the end of her term.
But Republican President Donald Trump ‘s administration has yet to sign off on federal financial assistance through the CHIPS and Science Act for the project and has largely been critical of the federal program.
The Flint & Genesee Economic Alliance owns about 1,194 acres and controls another 100 within the planned 1,400-acre site being prepared, referred to as the Advanced Manufacturing District of Genesee County. The alliance would not say how much of the $259 million it had spent to acquire land and demolish structures.
Rossmaessler ‘s presentation included a plan that would relocate Morrish Elementary to about 100 acres at the corner of Morrish and Hill roads, where the school district could build a larger building to replace the current 1955 structure, according to a recording of the June 25 school board meeting. The economic alliance consulted with a contractor who estimated, based on rough designs, that the school district could purchase the land and build a new school by 2028 for about $39.8 million.
The school board did not make a decision at the June 25 meeting and is expected to deliberate further on the offer.
The planned megasite has met with some resistance from the local community, including individuals who spoke during the June 25 meeting with the school board.
Bryan Bender, an alumnus of Morrish Elementary, questioned why the district would consider a sale given recent investments in the building and the roughly 450 students who would attend.
“Why would we even consider this when there is no plan, there is no business, there is no site plan?” Bender asked.
Much of the state ‘s Strategic Site Readiness Program dollars — an arm of the corporate incentive program, the Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve Fund — have been spent on sites where the end user is unknown, which has prompted concerns from local communities about the secrecy surrounding the eventual user of the site.
Rossmaessler told the school board that the economic alliance had the property it needed, but wanted to take the assembled property to the “next level.”
“We could easily section that off and move forward with the site as it is,” he said.
But school board members voiced concern about their options moving forward, especially in light of the fact that the state has not secured an end user for the site. Even if the state secured a business for the site, it still could be denied zoning permits by Mundy Township officials.
“I don’t want to rip them kids out of there if I don’t have to,” said school board member Chuck Melki. “…It’s like we’re caught in a snare. Either we pull the plug and move, or we stay there and get built around us.”
Rossmaessler expressed confidence that, regardless of the school district ‘s decision, there would be an eventual development on the acreage the economic alliance already owns.
“It’s the best site in America,” he said. “We’re going to get a buyer.”
Staff Writer Craig Mauger contributed.
eleblanc@detroitnews.com