The Carroll County Board of Education approved the $2 million purchase of the Kessler Building Wednesday evening. The purchase of the building, which is owned by the county and used by the school system as a warehouse, will allow the school board to save money and enhance operations, said Jonathan O’Neal, assistant superintendent of operations.
“This is a big, integral part of our budget, saving money, and for our schools,” Board of Education President Marsha Herbert said, “It is a building that we have used, and we will be very happy that we can use the whole facility.”
The school system uses the 64,000-square-foot building and 3.9-acre property, at 191 Schaffer Ave. in Westminster, as a furniture storage facility and distribution hub. The warehouse is also home to the school system’s food services program, a space for the technology services department to repair hardware, and a small computer lab used for custodial training programs, O’Neal said.
“All kinds of things are stored there,” Superintendent Cynthia McCabe said, “so it is vital to our operations.”
Owning the entire space will give the school system more storage capacity and is expected to create efficiencies within the food services program. The purchase will also expand the system’s ability to rapidly train new custodians, which O’Neal said the county desperately needs right now.
“We need the space,” O’Neal said, “and it’s been a conversation over the years. It’s been a great partnership and an easy partnership, but there have been times over the years where the county had a little more need, and we would be asked to retract.”
The building originally housed the Kessler Shoe Factory, which closed more than a decade ago. The 50-year-old building has been rented to various tenants but was vacant for 18 months before the county purchased it in 2021.
The commissioners paid David and Charlotte Kessler $750,000 for the property, $290,000 less than its appraised value. The building at the time needed a new roof, which would cost around $85,000.
Money for the purchase comes from the system’s fund balance, which is like a rainy-day fund, and was accounted for in the fiscal 2025 budget, O’Neal said. county commissioners are now expected to execute the deed and convey the property to the school system.
“We have been in discussions with Carroll County government for some time about transferring ownership of the Kessler Building,” McCabe said.
School board meetings are open to the public and live streamed on the Carroll County Public Schools YouTube channel and viewable on the right side of the Board of Education’s website at carrollk12.org/board-of-education/meeting-information, under CETV Livestream. Meetings are also broadcast throughout the month on Carroll Educational Television, Channel 21.
Anyone who wishes to participate during the public participation portion of school board meetings must fill out an online sign-up form at carrollk12.org/board-of-education/meeting-information or call the communications office at 410-751-3020 by 9 p.m., on the Tuesday before a meeting.
