SAGINAW, MI — A dialysis company that failed in its effort to buy an empty Buena Vista Township school from the Saginaw School District is trying anew, this time in the city.

Universal Medical Group of Grand Blanc is offering $175,000 for the vacant Longfellow Elementary School, 1314 Brown in Saginaw.

Universal had offered up to $1 million to buy the former Phoenix Science & Technology Center in Buena Vista Township from the Saginaw School District to use as a dialysis center. Universal rescinded the offer in February, and the Saginaw charter school Francis Reh Academy bought the building for $3.5 million.

The Building and Grounds Committee on Wednesday, May 6, decided to wait to  bring Universal's newest offer to the full board in order to conduct a building inventory and get answers to questions from the company.

School leaders questioned whether the company would be able to operate a business in the residential area of the Cathedral District.

Trustee Mattie Thompson suggested that the district's administration provide a full inventory of the contents of the building, which closed at the end of the 2013 school year.

"It would be a good idea to do a detailed inventory of all buildings that are left in the district so the district won't face these problems when trying to sell other properties," agreed committee chairwoman Alexis Thomas.

Thomas also recommended bringing all parties involved to a building and grounds meeting to address questions and concerns.

The sale of Longfellow will be brought back before the committee in June.

In other business, a recommendation to accept a bid from Melching Inc. of Nunica for the demolition of Webber Middle and Elementary schools failed 3-0 as committee members work out the bid process.

Interim Superintendent Kelley Peatross said that there were two addendums for the razing of the schools, and the company whose bid she recommended accepting only submitted information for one.

"That made their price significantly lower," Peatross said.

Peatross said that after a phone call to the company, a correction was made. The revised bid was a little over $500,000.

Thompson said she thought that was unfair to the other companies. The committee voted to gather more information before bringing the matter up at its June meeting.

Bob Johnson is a reporter for MLive/The Saginaw News. Contact him at 989-395-3295, by email at  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  or follow him on Twitter,Facebook or Google+.

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