Real estate developer buys 116-year-old Wausau elementary school

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By ERIK PFANTZ

USA Today Network via Reuters Connect

The Wausau School District announced April 7 the sale of the former Grant Elementary School property.

The property, located at 500 N. Fourth Ave., was officially sold to Grant School LLC for $550,000 on March 30, according to a news release from the district. Grant School LLC is controlled by Plover-based developer Rolly Lokre, according to state business records.

Grant Elementary is the third and final former Wausau School District elementary school sold after the Wausau School Board voted in January 2025 to close three elementary schools and transition Lincoln Elementary School to a dedicated 4K Academy site following a recommendation by a citizen task force that met over seven months in 2024.

The former Hawthorne Hills Elementary school was sold for $1.5M to Faith Christian Academy in July 2025 and the former Hewitt-Texas Elementary school was sold for $800,000 also in July 2025, according to the release. A previous purchase agreement for the Grant Elementary School property fell apart and the property was relisted in October 2025.

“As we share this news with our community, which in many ways, signifies the end of the consolidation process, we want to say ‘thank you,’” the district said in the release. “Thank you for your patience and support throughout consolidation.”

The district also thanked Tim Wimmer, real estate broker, for his work on the sale of the properties.

“As we close this final chapter of the process, we remain so grateful for the decades of education and community spirit that defined each of these incredible schools,” the district said in the release.

The history of Grant Elementary School

Grant Elementary School is a three-story, 50,000-square-foot brick school building built in a Classical Revival style in 1910 on a 5-acre city block along West Bridge Street. Remodeling of the building was completed in 1988 for $900,000 and a new gymnasium was added to the building in 2001, according to Wisconsin Historical Society.

The building was built with 1,000,000 red bricks and between 80-90 tons of structural steel for $63,000, or $7,000 more than was estimated before its construction, according to the Historical Society. A one-story bay projection extending from the building’s northeast side reportedly was the site of the building’s original kindergarten classroom.

Originally, the building was called the Sixth Ward School before its name was changed in 1912 to honor President Ulysses S. Grant, according to the Historical Society.

The building began its first year serving students in grade levels K-2 before expanding to K-5 in its second year. Eventually the building served K-8 before returning to only elementary-level students by 1988, according to the Historical Society.