Asa Wood redevelopment moving apace
Libby School officials say they have signed an agreement to sell Asa Wood to Compass Health, a California-based healthcare company. (Will Langhorne/The Western News)
The California-based health care company looking to purchase Asa Wood Elementary School has asked Libby Public School administrators to change the name of the limited liability company it would use to complete the transaction.
Previous versions of the buy-sell agreement between Compass Health Inc. and the district listed Stagecoach Billy LLC as the buyer. During a Dec. 8 school board meeting, Libby Superintendent Ron Goodman said company executives hoped to change the name to Playa Dulce LLC.
“I’m not sure exactly how to pronounce that, but I can tell you what it means,” Goodman said.
Compass Health’s decision to sub in Playa Dulce LLC, or sweet beach LLC, as the buyer was a strategy to protect the health care company from lawsuits, Goodman said.
School officials announced the deal to sell the defunct Asa Wood property to Compass Health in September. The company has agreed to purchase the property for $730,000 and has put down $50,000 as an earnest payment.
Goodman told board members at the meeting earlier this week that the health care company had begun laying out plans for renovations on the former school grounds. In a letter to school officials earlier this year, Darren Smith, CEO and owner of Compass Health, said the company intended to build a 35-to 45-unit assisted living complex on the property. Alternatively, Smith suggested developing the lot into homes.
Libby Public Schools received a $388,000 grant from the EPA in May to assist with cleaning up the property. District officials plan to start work on the project in May or June.
School board member Ericka Hartley provided a motion to accept the name change. Her colleague Alida Leigh offered a second. The final vote was unanimous.