This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Brigham Young University will expand its footprint by 25 acres after purchasing the property currently occupied by Provo High School.
Provo School District's school board approved the $25 million sale Tuesday morning, including a 30-month lease agreement that will allow the 62-year-old school to use the property for free while a new high school is constructed on the city's west side.
School district spokesman Caleb Price said the new location, near 1300 North Lakeshore Drive, is expected to be completed in time for the 2018-2019 academic year.
"We're having the groundbreaking on the new site tomorrow," Price said Tuesday.
Price said the school district received offers from multiple interested buyers before agreeing to sell the property to BYU, which is owned by the Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Provo High School enrolls roughly 1,900 students, Price said, and the move to a new location is intended to address the challenges of the aging building.
"The school wasn't built to have hundreds of computers and all this stuff plugged in," he said.
The Provo High School property is located on Provo's University Avenue, across the street from BYU's Indoor Practice Facility.
University spokeswoman Carri Jenkins said there are no plans yet for how the property will be used after the 30-month lease period.
"It was an opportunity for us," Jenkins said of the sale. "We are pleased to be able to purchase this property."
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