The Ainsworth City Council discussed whether to purchase the Ainsworth Elementary School building at their town hall meeting June 4.

A meeting was held in the building that’s in question Sunday in Ainsworth and citizens voiced their opinions.

This was the first of two town hall meetings scheduled by the Ainsworth City Council to gauge the community’s opinion on what should be done with the elementary school building now that it is closed. The council intends to purchase the baseball fields across the street from the school. The Highland School District has offered to sell the building for one dollar, but Mayor Troy McCarthy pointed out that the district might get competing offers, “Our fear as a city is that if we take too long, a developer from Iowa City comes in, levels it and makes apartments here. Not saying that that’s a bad thing, but I don’t think it’s the best thing for the city. They have said there are other people looking at it. But we don’t know how serious they are. They’re acting like they’re definitely giving us first choice at it, we don’t know how long that’s going to last.”

The council stressed that if they purchase the building the city needs to find a way to generate revenue, in order to afford upkeep. Citizens commented about what funds the city has to maintain the building, and contributed ideas like a daycare center, a community center, or moving the city’s offices to the building. Council member AmySara Richardson explained the community’s role “We need to decide if the majority of the community cares, or the majority of the community does not care.”

An informal vote was taken at the meeting to gauge citizens’ opinions. From three options, 11 citizens voted the city should purchase the building and the baseball fields, nine voted that the city purchase only the fields, and no one voted that the city buys nothing. A second town hall meeting will be held tonight at the Ainsworth Elementary gym at 7 p.m.