A buyer has approached Seminole Public Schools with an offer to renovate its former high school located at 501 N. Timmons Street. Built in 1930, the building was operational up until 2015, when inspectors condemned it as unsafe and unusable, forcing students and faculty to vacate the premises. It has stayed relatively untouched in the years since but remains an important and treasured part of Seminole’s history.

The purchase offer comes from Seminole Alumni Katie McDaniel (née Arnold). McDaniel is an attorney with the Brewster and De Angelis firm located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Her husband and partner, Stewart McDaniel, works with the Marketing Agency GuRuStu, which is also based in Tulsa. The McDaniels are looking to purchase the old high school building in the interest of turning it into an apartment complex. The twosome has experience with refurbishing historical sites, such as the high school, in a manner which maintains the integrity and character of the building and have worked on many similar projects.

However, according to Superintendent Dr. Bob Gragg, Seminole Public Schools, “have not taken any action,” in regard to selling the building. Furthermore, if they do eventually reach that decision, there is not necessarily a guarantee the McDaniels will be the buyers.

The prospect was first brought up at the April School Board meeting and was further discussed during May and June’s meetings. The discussions have gone no further than talk thus far, as the board has yet to decide whether they are open to the idea of selling the building. They will be discussing the matter more in their upcoming meeting scheduled for June 15, which will be in person and open to the public. There is an alumni meeting set for next week as well, during which administration will discuss the possibility of refurbishing the former high school with those who attended and perhaps have strong ties to it.

Before the board begins making any decisions, Superintendent Gragg maintains they, “would certainly want the community’s input.” More concrete information will be available after next Monday’s school board meeting, as they will be having a more serious discussion over whether or not to sell the original building and how they plan to respond to the McDaniel’s proposal. For right now, any and all plans are still very much hypothetical.