Ownership issues cloud Jacksonville land swap plans

Officials in Jacksonville say a legal review of property in the city’s limits recently revealed that an abandoned school, previously thought to be owned by Jacksonville State University, may in fact be owned by the state.

For about two years, the city and JSU have been discussing a land swap involving the abandoned Eastwood School, where the community’s black children were educated before integration. While conducting a title search attorneys discovered that in 1943 the city of Jacksonville gave Eastwood to the state for an unknown reason.

However, a state law passed in 1965 might be used to prove that JSU still has legal ownership of the school, which closed in 1968. That statute, which also created the university's board of trustees, states that any university land given to the state for JSU’s benefit should again be deemed the property of the university.

As part of the current land swap involving the school, JSU has been planning to exchange Eastwood and Kitty Stone Elementary school for the city’s old Profile Mill. The city said it would like to use Kitty Stone for city offices once children leave that property, and the university has said it wants to use the mill property for maintenance operations.

During a Monday meeting, an official said attorneys are having a tough time proving that JSU owns the Eastwood School.

City Administrator Jarrod Simmons said the university might wind up having to negotiate with the state to obtain the old property.

The building itself is listed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage, according to the Alabama Historical Commission website, having been erected in 1936 as a federal works project.

Also complicating the closure of the deal is a question about paperwork regarding some property at the old city-owned mill. Simmons said a bank failed to notify the county courthouse when a previous owner paid the property off. As a result, he said, there is a lien against the property. However, the city, which he said has proof of ownership, expects to clear that matter up in short order.