DEERFIELD TWP. - South Lebanon will get its first community center Wednesday when the Kings Board of Education sells the former South Lebanon Elementary School to the village for $1.

        The deed and a ceremonial key to the old school will be presented at the school after village officials convene their 6:30 p.m. council meeting, at 99 N. High St., then walk across the street to the building. Last year, the district built a state-of-the-art school to replace the turn-of-the century building with proceeds from a 1999 bond issue that also provided money to rebuild Kings Mills Elementary.

        “I'd like to thank the Kings School Board and superintendent for working cooperatively with us. Everything went through without a hitch. It's been a smooth transition,” said Mayor James Smith, a lifelong village resident. “This was built by the taxpayers when it was the Deerfield-Union Schools before it became the Kings district. It's in great shape.”

        Before turning the building over to the village the school board tore down the oldest section and the hallways that connected the original and added sections, leaving two buildings on the four-acre site, with the newest portion built in 1962. School officials then paved the area that was torn down.

        The single-story building contains a gymnasium, cafeteria, auditorium and classrooms. The second building has a two-story classroom section along with offices used by administrators.

        The mayor said the village will continue to lease space for the Head Start program and will move village records to the school. He said council would probably lease part of the building to offset operating costs, make rooms available to community and civic groups and expand youth sports programs. Future plans could include a library or swimming pool at the site.

        “I think it's a wonderful opportunity to have a community center in the heart of town,” said Becky Holloway, a South Lebanon resident and member of the school board. “We've had a school in South Lebanon for 125 years. It's wonderful for the community to be able to have the building it built.”

        Right now, village residents have to go to Lebanon, Mason, or Morrow for YMCAs or libraries, Ms. Holloway said. Adding a community center would make it easier for families to participate in activities, she said.

        “I look on it as a win-win situation for everyone,” said Kings Superintendent David Query.

        The former Kings Mills Elementary School has been remodeled and renamed the Kings Education Center. Last week, administrators moved into the building along with a Head Start program. The Warren County Joint Vocational School District also leases space and will begin offering adult education programs there.

        “This was all part of a vision we had to improve facilities for students and make maximum use of the old schools,” Mr. Query said. “I'm very pleased.”

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