The Dunklin R-5 School District will buy the old United Methodist Church in Herculaneum from the city of Herculaneum, ultimately providing the district with more classroom space.
The Dunklin Board of Education voted unanimously Dec. 16 to buy the former church building at 672 Main St. in Herculaneum for $135,000, plus closings costs.
The church ceased operations in June 2024. The city of Herculaneum bought the property last year.
Herculaneum Mayor Ryan Wright said the city originally had plans for the property but believed the school district could make better use of it.
“The budget was tight, and it’s going to take a lot of money to renovate,” Wright said. “We really didn’t have a use for it other than kind of a community center, and those cost a lot to run. We think the school had a better use for it than we did.”
Wright said last week that the city had signed a contract to sell the church to the school district, and he hopes to see the deal close by the end of the year.
Dunklin Superintendent Clint Freeman said the district will pay about $1 million to renovate the old church building.
“We’ll put a new roof on it, do some ADA accessible entryway at the front, remodeling of the offices, office space, as well as the sanctuary,” Freeman said. “We had our architect (HTK Structural Engineers, LLP) look at it. The cost for the serious construction costs around a million dollars, but we are going to do that in some phases.”
Freeman said the district will use capital projects fund for this project.
He said Dec. 16 that he has long been interested in the property for the district.
“When this property became available, it kind of made sense for us to look into it even more,” he said. “Moving the Central Office to that space would allow our current central office to be reallocated for our day care, which is for our staff. We would move the day care from the (Taylor Early Childhood Center) building over to the (current) Central Office. That then opens two more classrooms at Taylor for us to use for our pre-K kiddos.”
Freeman said the renovated church space will also house the district’s board room, and the building’s basement most likely will be available for community use and will offer a small space for the Herculaneum Historical Society.