You Can't Sell What You Don't Own- or Can You?

The Brainerd School District is in the process of selling the former Franklin Junior High School to Artspace Inc. Tom Fitzpatrick who is the school district's attorney  told board members Monday, that there may be a small problem with this.   It was discovered in establishing the site description that .288 acres of the property was and is still owned by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway.This comprises a portion of the east wing of the building and part of a driveway with a total square footage of around 12,000 square feet.The BNSF Railway headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas , is one of the four remaining transcontinental and one of the largest railroad networks in North America (only one competitor, the Union Pacific Railroad is larger in size). BNSF was created on September 22, 1995 with the merger of Burlington Northern, Inc. and Santa Fe Pacific Corporation, two companies with rich histories dating back to 1849. 

Artspace has been notified of the findings . "We felt if we wanted to sell the building, we should own all the dirt under the building," Fitzpatrick told the board.  The board agreed and authorized him to enter into a purchase agreement with the Railway for the property.  This oops will cost $63,000  - priced out at $5 per square foot. The district is proposing to use capital funds to pay for the land and then proceed to close the sale with Artspace this fall.

In the 1870's the government was handing out land grants and it is speculated that this  land was given to the railroad to encourage system development. The railroad in 1954 granted the school a perpetual easement at no charge. Now it is time to pay up and move on.

Artspace has renamed the building the Franklin Arts Center  and is in the process of re-roofing the building and doing some preliminary remodeling. Local artists have already established studio spaces in the building.

Kathleen Lordbock

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