first on decorahnews.com: Softball diamond location for new elementary school is back in play

The City of Decorah's Property Committee will meet Monday, March 20th, to discuss whether the city should sell the softball diamond property on Heivly Street to the Decorah Community School District as the site of a new elementary school.

Committee chair Steve Luse says that while there may be school district officials on hand for the meeting, the main purpose is for city officials to discuss the issue again.

An earlier request by the Decorah School District that the city sell the softball diamond property to the school district was rejected.  That led the school district into discussions with Luther College about a long-term lease of seven acres of property in the Anderson Prairie on College Drive.  A college official tells decorahnews.com that the college's Land Use Committee will likely give its recommendation to President Carlson by mid March. If there is a  recommendation to proceed from President Carlson at that point, the earliest the Luther Board of Regents could deal with the issue would be at their May meeting.

However, opposition to the proposal has been increasing on the Luther campus. Some consider it unlikely the Anderson Prairie property lease will even get to the Board of Regents.

That has spurred a renewed interest in the softball diamond property.  decorahnews.com has learned that a few school and city representatives met informally last month and agreed to reexamine the softball field property.

Using the softball diamond property as the site of a new elementary school would mean a new location for the field would have to be located.  That's expected to be one of the questions the Property Committee will discuss on March 20th.