BUTLER TWP — The Clarence C. Brown Education Center will become the home of the Community Life Church of Butler, which bid $150,000 for the property.

The school, founded nearly 35 years ago, provided alternative and emotional support for special needs students and is run by Midwestern Intermediate Unit IV of Grove City, which recommended its closing due to financial trouble.

Although the MIU IV staffs the school, five school districts own and maintain the building on Pittsburgh Pike Road: Karns City, Mars, Moniteau, Seneca Valley and South Butler.

The joint-operating committee, which is composed of representatives from the five districts, and the Butler County Special School Municipal Authority approved the sales agreement Thursday evening.

More than 25 people from the church attended the meeting, and the church bid was the only one submitted for the property.

According to county records, the Clarence Brown school is on 4.87 acres. It has appraised values of $160,000 and $255,000, said school solicitor Tom May.

Pastor Steve Ogle and his wife, Mamie, run the church, which has been based out of the McQuistion Elementary School for 11 years.

“Now, we can have a permanent home,” Steve Ogle said Thursday night.

Ogle said the church had looked at other sites, but the Clarence Brown school felt like the right fit.

“Nothing just seemed to fit in our heart,” he said. “When we came here, it seemed just right.”

The church has about 120 members, but with the move to the school, that could double, he said.

Steve Ogle said the church plans to do some renovations, including creating an auditorium and more parking. While he has been reviewing those changes with architects and engineers, there is no estimated cost or time line for the work to be done.

However, church members are anxious to be in the building in time for the Christmas Eve service, Steve Ogle said.

For the past 11 years, the church had to put up and take down each week at McQuistion. While Ogle was thankful for the space, it has been work.

“We had to set up and tear it down every week when school is in session,” he said.

Because of that, Steve and Mamie Ogle and the church members in attendance were elated to have their own building.

May said selling to the church made the sale a bit less sad.

“It’s so sad that the school had to close, but it’s so good that it’s going to a good cause,” May said.

Also, the authority voted to sell school items at a public auction, said solicitor Tom King. The auction will be done by John Huey, but the date has yet to be scheduled, King said.

The next step will be for the sale to be approved by Butler County Judge Michael Yeager, King said. He anticipates that it will take at least two months before the sale closing.