Alaska district tries selling school on eBay

ANCHORAGE - Local officials in the rural Alaskan town of King Cove have put an old school up for sale on eBay, saying they hope to raise US$1.8 million ($2.97 million).

The Aleutians East Borough has put the school in the southwestern Alaska coastal village of 725 people up for sale on the online auction house eBay, hoping a new owner can take advantage of the 3995-sq-metre building's location on the waterfront in the midst of Alaska's biggest commercial seafood harvests, officials said.

"We have salmon, halibut, cod, crab, pollock, sablefish that's right outside the front door of the school," said borough spokeswoman Karen Montoya.

The borough hopes to raise US$1.8 million by selling off the school, although the eBay listing cites a starting bid of US$400,000, Borough Administrator Bob Juettner said.

A new school, located in a less industrialised area of the village, is almost ready for King Cove's 100 or so students, he said.

While many state and local governments have turned to the online auction service to sell surplus property, eBay spokesman Dean Jutilla said he does not know of any other school put up for sale.

"I don't recall off the top of my head. But that doesn't mean it hasn't happened," he said.

A 2003 sale of a surplus Alaska state ferry helped inspire the decision to list the school on eBay, Montoya said.

- REUTERS