Butler Middle School is pictured in June 2022 in Butler. Butler Eagle file photo

BUTLER TWP — A potential buyer made an offer on the former Butler Middle School in the amount of $115,000, but the buyer’s “verbal agreement” will kick off the legal process that has to be completed to actually sell the building.

The Butler Area School District board on Monday, Oct. 14, voted to direct the district’s solicitor to draft an official agreement to sell the facility. Brian White, superintendent of the district, said the agreement will include parameters on what the building could be used for in the future, which can be agreed upon by the district and the city of Butler. He said the buyer who made the offer intends to use the building for light industrial purposes.

Butler Middle School closed at the end of the 2021-22 school year. It is 180,000 square feet, and White said the rough estimate to demolish the building would be in the range of $2 million. Heather Bonzo, the school district’s director of finance, said Monday the annual utility costs on the building are around $197,000.

“Ultimately, we’re left with a 180,000-square-foot building which we’re maintaining and paying utilities for, which cost-wise is just not acceptable,” White said.

At the time of the school’s closing, the district was in talks to sell the building to Pittsburgh Gateways for $1, but the agreement fell through. Other efforts to sell the building over the past two years also have not materialized.

Tom King, the district’s solicitor, said the building will be appraised at least once before it can be sold. The sale of the building would be advertised, which could raise the building’s profile for interested buyers, King said.

“This offer may or may not be the winning bid on this property,” he said. “Any buyer in the world who wants to show up and bid is able to do so. You have to make a higher and better bid. This enables us to get started.”

King added that it likely will take at least 120 days for the agreement to be completed in writing.

School board president Al Vavro said Monday that the district has exhausted every avenue to get the building off the school district’s hands over the past two years, and this sale option may be the best option.

In other business Monday, the school board approved a contract with Independence Health System, giving the system the naming rights to the high school football stadium. Butler Health System’s sponsorship of the stadium has ended, and it has merged with Excela Health to create Independence Health System.

The health system will pay Butler school district $17,500 annually for five years for the naming rights to the stadium, for a total of $87,500. Through the agreement, the district grants the health system the right to use the field name and images for marketing purposes, after approval from both parties.

White said money generated through the sponsorship is intended to be used to maintain the field and stadium. Upgrades could be needed on lighting, the annex building and the scoreboard soon, according to White.

“I am going to try to put these funds into a separate account for stadium upgrades we’re going to need in the future,” he said. “It’ll be nice to show folks that we are raising the funds to try to offset these things as well.”