FOWLER, Ohio (WKBN) – On Thursday in Fowler, Mathews Local Schools auctioned off 115 acres of land.

The sale brought in just under half a million dollars for the district. We spoke with Superintendent Russell McQuaide to find out how the district plans to spend the money.

In 2015, the Mathews Local School District purchased property at the former Prestwick Golf Course to be used for a new school building. McQuaide says the district originally bought the land at a sheriff’s sale for just over $150,000.

“There was a bond issue that failed and actually, they’ve been trying to put up new buildings for quite some time. The last one failed in 2017 by about 170 votes,” McQuaide said.

After several failed attempts, the district auctioned off 6 parcels of land totaling 115 acres. It sold for $491,000. After fees, the district will keep about $447,000 from the sale.

“We’re trying to be very good stewards with the money and we’re trying to invest appropriately in our schools,” McQuaide said.

McQuaide says they plan to use the money to invest in their current properties.

“The addition that we are putting on to Baker will allow us to put our kindergarten through fifth grades at the Baker Elementary School, and then we’re going to close Currie,” McQuaide said. “It’s going to be a $4.2 million project and it’s going to add somewhere in the ballpark of 7,900 square feet to the building.”

We spoke off-camera with three of the auction winners. One is considering building a house on his parcel. The other two aren’t sure what they’ll use the land for yet.