West Valley will pay $2.5 million to build school

WEST VALLEY CITY — The City Council on Tuesday agreed to give Granite School District $2.5 million to build a new school, making way for a Costco store expected to anchor a downtown redevelopment project.

The current Granger Elementary is located at 2450 W. 3800 South, the site of a planned Costco at the heart of West Valley's city-center revitalization effort. That effort will also include revamping the nearby Valley Fair Mall.

The council voted unanimously to approve an agreement among the city, its redevelopment agency, the owners of the mall and the school district to facilitate the school's relocation to the current site of Glen Weaver Park, 3650 S. 1959 West.

Granite School District already approved the agreement earlier this month.

According to a city staff report on the plan, the $2.5 million, to come from the city's budget, will partially be repaid by the city's sale of Weaver Park to the RDA, which uses property tax revenue based on projected revenues to come from the redevelopment.

When they return from their holiday break in January, Granger students, who are in school year-round, will begin attending classes in the old Woodrow Wilson Elementary School, 2825 S. 200 East, while they wait for the new school to be built. Wilson Elementary students have already moved to the new site of their school, 2500 S. State.

At a recent Granite School District Board meeting, a handful of parents expressed concern that the change will interrupt students' educational year and will make it impossible for kids to walk to and from school.

The agreement calls for the city to help cover the costs of busing Granger students to the temporary school.

The staff report says the agreement will "benefit residents by removing an elementary school from a commercial area and providing a new school in a better location."

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