Bidders have until Tuesday to capture a piece of the Wirt-Emerson School of Visual and Performing Arts art collection.
The online auction, conducted by Kraft Auction Services, closes at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. There are 78 pieces, including busts, paintings and commemorative plaques. There’s also a metal drinking fountain and wooden totem poles once displayed in the school’s courtyard.
So far, a bronze bust of the school’s namesake and Gary’s first superintendent, William A. Wirt, has snagged the highest bid at $1,050. The bust is displayed on an art deco stand.
Gary Community School Corp. emergency manager Peggy Hinckley decided to close Wirt-Emerson earlier this year. The school itself is also for sale, along with 32 other schools, under a separate bidding process.
Hinckley said Tuesday she’s hoping Wirt-Emerson alumni will bid on the items. It’s likely the district will also sell a larger collection from several schools that’s being stored in Chicago.
Hinckley, who was hired by the state last year, is trying to reduce a $98 million debt and shore up the district’s shaky finances.
Earlier this year, the district reached a settlement with the Internal Revenue Service resolving an $8.4 million debt. The IRS had placed liens on all the district’s school buildings and the liens were released with the settlement in which the IRS agreed to a $320,000 payment.
The district quickly placed 33 closed schools up for sale. Under a 2017 state takeover law, local taxing units and public universities have the first opportunity to buy a school. City officials hope to purchase Franklin Elementary.
The initial round of bidding closes on July 27, the public may submit offers for schools following the publication of a legal notice.
Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
