La Crosse School Board votes to appeal historic status for Lincoln school building

The La Crosse School District will try to appeal a City Hall decision to declare Lincoln Middle School as a historic landmark.

The School Board voted Monday night to pursue the appeal, while delaying the process of taking offers to buy the 100-year-old building.

District superintendent, Dr. Aaron Engel, and other school officials, objected last week, when the La Crosse Heritage Preservation Commission approved landmark status for Lincoln.

“It is a deep injustice to property owners, to place their property on the local register of historic places after the property has gone up for sale,” Engel said last week.

The district said commission members didn’t consult them about the proposal and treated the district “unfairly” by not giving advance notice about the landmark designation.

The appeal has to be filed with the La Crosse City Council within 30 days of the decision to make it a landmark.