The Bronx Times reports that the Bally’s Foundation, affiliated with the gaming company that seeks to develop a casino complex at nearby Ferry Point Park, will buy Preston High School in the Throggs Neck neighborhood of the Bronx.
The deal marks a reversal by the Sisters of the Divine Compassion, the order of nuns that owns the property and previously rejected the same offer from Bally's. The Sisters had announced earlier this year that the school, which opened in 1947, would close at the end of the academic year in June regardless of outside support, citing unsustainable financial pressures and declining enrollment.
But following sustained public pressure from students, parents, alumnae and local officials, the Sisters changed course and accepted the deal.
The agreement calls for Bally’s Foundation to buy Preston’s waterfront property for $8.5 million, lease it back to the school for $1 per year on a 25-year lease with five-year renewals and pay up to $1.6 million for infrastructure repairs and legal and closing fees.
Mike Kennedy has been writing about education forAmerican School & Universitysince 1999. He also has reported on schools and other topics for The Chicago Tribune, The Kansas City Star, The Kansas City Times and City News Bureau of Chicago. He is a graduate of Michigan State University.
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