After months of preparation, the Cardinal Board of Education finally auctioned off the Jordak Elementary Building on June 7 in Middlefield. The Board sold the building to Ohman Family Living for $2.2 million, a retirement community that spans four different locations across Geauga County.
“We have a lot of staff members that went to that school, but we are always looking to also make sure that they stay vibrant and relevant with the education in our district, so sometimes things just have to come that way,” Cardinal Superintendent Jack Cunningham told The Weekly Villager. “We are just trying to make decisions that are better for the district as best as we can and then keeping us moving forward.”
As The Villager previously reported, the Jordak building was officially closed in the summer of 2024, with the Jordak students transferred to the middle school and the middle school students assigned to the high school.
Due to the continuing decreasing enrollment numbers, the Board decided to close the Jordak Building last summer and make it available for purchase. The Board previously held an online auction to sell some of the contents in the former elementary school during the winter but took a more direct approach in selling the actual 5½ acre of property.
On June 7, the Board took the final step in the process of selling the Jordak Building. Cunningham said that Board contracted Mihalic Associates & Auctioneer, an auction company from Chardon, to assist in the sale of the property.
Although the Jordak Building is now owned by a separate entity, Cunningham said that the Board already has an existing relationship with Ohman Family Living.
“We are excited about it,” he noted. “We already had a partnership with Ohman Family Living in providing training and certifications at the junior/senior high school. They reach out and the kids go over there and do internships to get paid internships and then get work too. We are excited about that to continue.”
According to Cunningham, Ohman Family Living has indicated that it hopes to transform the Jordak Building into partly a community recreation center and also a non-assisted living space. Ohman Family Living already has a chain of retirement communities spread across Geauga County, including the Ohman Family Living at Briar facility in Middlefield.
Cunningham said that the Board plans to take the money raised by the sale of Jordak and use the funds to necessary renovations at the junior high and high school. He added that improvements will include upgrading the air conditioning units, a new roof at the high school and a new parking lot.
“We are excited about being able to take some of that money we acquired to upgrade our facilities as we have been doing that the last couple of years,” he said. “To be continuing to be doing that and making sure our facilities are well-done and have all of the needs that we need to service the community and students in our district.”
In addition to the sale of the Jordak Building, the Board also auctioned the contents of the building as well as the remaining assets in the bus garage that they leased from the All Around Children day care center in Middlefield.
The Board sold the former junior high building and bus garage that resided on the property to All Around Children approximately three years ago. which included Despite the junior high being converted into a daycare center, All Around Children leased the bus garage to the Board so it could house buses and other essential items.
Cunningham praised the turnout at the auction, although some residents were not there to make any purchases but to take one last good look at the former elementary school before it was officially purchased by another entity.
“There was a good group of people there that were bidding on content,” he said. “I believe for the actual purchase of the property, I think there were initially five or seven people that actually bid on the property at some point.”
Cunningham acknowledged that many of the residents who purchased a keepsake from the building now have a piece of Jordak to always remember the former elementary school.
“I think it is one of the best things that you can do,” he noted. “The only things that you have are memories and certain things mean different things to certain people so having the community have opportunities to come in and be able to do that means the world. We want to always honor and try to do what we can on our part and make sure we try to preserve anything that happened with Cardinal.”
