LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — The Lexington Herald-Leader building will soon be home to career and technical center after the Fayette County Board of Education unanimously voted to buy the Lexington Herald-Leader building for $7.5 million.
“We are excited to acquire and repurpose this tremendous location,” said Fayette County Public Schools Superintendent Manny Caulk in a press release. “The Herald-Leader has played a central role in our community for decades and we are grateful for their partnership in this endeavor.”
The district’s plan is to bring its existing career and technical education (CTE) programs – currently split between two campuses at Eastside Technical Center and Southside Technical Center – together under one roof in the newspaper building.
“We are looking not just to have the best CTE offerings in the central Kentucky region or the state; we want to make sure that the students who come through our career programs are the best prepared students in the nation,” Caulk said. “This also allows us to take the existing properties, which are landlocked and use those facilities in a different way.”
The Herald-Leader building is located on 100 Midland Ave.
The property purchase will not be final until the district completes several due diligence steps and receives final approval from the Kentucky Department of Education. The Local Planning Committee is in the process of amending the district facility plan to include a merged career and technical center.
“It has always been our hope and goal that, once our building was sold, its new use would have a positive impact on the community and downtown Lexington,” said Lexington Herald-Leader Executive Editor/General Manager Peter Baniak. “This new use as a school campus achieves that goal.”
The Herald-Leader’s main operations will continue to be based in the building until the property sale closes, which is likely to happen this fall.
