(KAIR)--Details are released regarding the planned renovation of a former Atchison school building into apartments.

Atchison resident Justin Pregont is the owner of Pomeroy Development, LLC the firm which successfully entered the winning bid for the former Central School Building.

The sale was approved in June on a unanimous vote of the Board of Education for the Atchison Public Schools of USD 409.

Pomeroy Development was the successful high bidder for purchase of the school building property, submitting the high bid of $40,000.

The school board, earlier this year, voted to close the building, citing high maintenance costs, and relocate students who formerly attended the site for the next school year.

Pregont, in a release detailing the history and architecture of the building, which stands at 215 North 8th Street, says buildings like Central School, with “enduring community impact must be preserved even,” Pregont writes, “if their future looks quite different from their past.”

In the release, Pregont outlines the planned apartment conversion, saying the Central School Apartments “will feature 13 apartment units, including two studios, averaging about 460 square feet, 8 one-bedroom units averaging about 775 square feet, 2 two-bedroom units averaging about 945 square feet, and one premium two-bedroom unit with 1,300 square feet” in what Pregont calls “the iconic Kindergarten room on the south end of the building.”

Atchison’s L&L Construction will serve as the general contractor on the project.

According to Pregont, the development team “also intends to pursue a handful of commercial/community use options for the gym/stage space,” but clarifies that “no specific tenant has yet been identified.”

In the release, Pregont explains that the project means the property will be “listed on the National Register of Historic Places, ensuring that the building remains” what Pregont calls “a character defining piece of the fabric of downtown Atchison for generations to come.”

While listing the property on the National Register will give Pomeroy Development “access to the State and Federal Historic Tax Credit Programs,” Pregont says the listing “also comes with extraordinary requirements in terms of historic preservation, design/review, and construction quality, all of which are positive outcomes for the Atchison community.”

Although Pregont says “there’s too much work to be done to have a clear vision for a completion date,” he notes that the company hopes “to have the apartments available in the summer of 2022.”