APS Superintendent Dave Rabbideau said the idea about what to do with the lots sprang up in 2021, and a serious discussion started around three months ago.

Jason Loyer, CTE construction technology instructor at Alpena High School, said that the lots went out of use in 2019 when the Geometry in Construction class was introduced. That class took up a two-hour block that was once used for building houses on the empty lots.

With less time to work on houses, it was not feasible for students to learn all the parts that go into constructing a house in a reasonable time frame.

The last house was sold in 2020, Rabbideau said.

News Photo by Reagan Voetberg The Wildcat Court street sign stands just west of Thunder Bay Junior High on 3rd Avenue.

Around three years ago, APS built a facility for students to practice construction work on smaller projects like sheds, deer blinds, and tiny homes, Loyer said.

Rabbideau spoke of the benefits of the concrete technology program’s current curriculum.

“With tiny houses, students can learn how to build all the components of a house in one year,” he said.

Loyer said a good number of students still show interest in the construction technology program. There are 20 students in the two-hour block construction class and 34 in the Geometry in Construction class.

As far as the future goes, Loyer could not predict whether the construction program might shift back to building full houses again.

Monica Dziesinski, a member of the APS Board of Education, was the only trustee to vote against selling the lots during Monday’s meeting.

“I talked to the staff at the CTE department and got their opinions,” Dziesinski said. “I wanted to make an informed decision, and that was the main reason I voted against selling the lots.

“I wasn’t for selling five,” she continued. “I would have been fine selling two. I hate to sell something off and then realize those lots could be used for something again in five years.”