After sitting empty for more than 15 years, Clearwater’s red-brick North Ward Elementary School is finally back in play. City staff are walking developers through the century-old campus and quietly drumming up interest as they hunt for a partner who will keep the historic bones while breathing in new life. Neighbors who grew up around the school say they want jobs and foot traffic, not a teardown that wipes away the building’s past.
City ramps up pre-marketing and tours
Assistant City Manager Alfred Battle has been leading walk-throughs of the property, describing the push as a formal pre-marketing effort aimed at developers who specialize in historic reuse. The city acquired North Ward in 2019, and local reporting notes the building has been vacant since 2009. Battle told Tampa Bay 28 the aim is to have both a developer and a concrete plan lined up by the end of the year.
Uses on the table range from restaurants to housing…