BATTLE CREEK, Mich. –
A Clarksville, Tennessee school recently saved significant dollars by acquiring a free excess relocatable building made available through Defense Logistics Agency Disposition Services.
The building, originally valued at $2 million, was previously used as a temporary Fort Campbell classroom at the nearby Army installation. The structure now belongs to Clarksville’s Power and Grace Preparatory Academy, according to Kristie Davis, an agency disposal service representative at DLA’s Fort Campbell property disposal site.
“When the school informed the DLA Disposition Services team that they had a relocatable building they needed to turn in, they also mentioned knowing of a local school interested in it,” Davis said.
Davis said the building went through the normal acquisition screening cycle, during which other DOD units have top priority for reuse opportunity, followed by other federal agencies looking for transfer property, state governments seeking donations, and special program recipients.
“I explained to [the academy] they had to go through the screening cycle, and that somebody else could possibly get it,” Davis said.
Two other potential customers inquired about the building, but neither ended up submitting a request, Davis said.
School officials said the no-cost acquisition would be transformative for the preparatory academy, a private institution founded nine years ago with 16 students.
“We are so excited about the opportunity that the building presents to us in that we will be able to nearly triple our student body size,” said Katobwa Stallworth, the school’s principal and founder.
The academy now has 70 students enrolled from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. The relocatable building spans 8,700 square feet and should allow the school to accommodate more students at a fraction of the cost of new construction.
Since the building was previously used as a school facility, it comes with upgraded features, including bulletproof windows, Stallworth said.
“We have applied for grants to make our school safer for the students,” she said. “This building will help reassure parents that their children are in a very safe and secure environment.”
While Stallworth emphasized that a building cannot, by itself, create a well-educated student, she said proper facilities make it possible to serve students more effectively.
“I just wanted to thank the United States Army, the DOD, and DLA for not allowing a resource of this caliber to simply be torn down, but to be used in the community,” she said.