Bemidji Board Approves $250,000 Sale of Central Elementary to Sacred Bundle

Ann Long Voelkner joined Bemidji Area Schools board members in a unanimous vote at a special meeting on Feb. 20, 2026, approving a purchase agreement to sell the former Central Elementary building at 815 Beltrami Ave NW to Sacred Bundle for $250,000, with the district reporting the sale is expected to close Feb. 27, 2026. Voelkner thanked those involved and said, “I think that the buyer will be good for our community as a whole.”

The board’s approved purchase agreement includes deed and use restrictions that bar the property from being used for any Pre-K through Grade 12 educational purposes, excluding non-educational child care, and prohibit the sale, manufacture, distribution or storage of cannabis products or low-potency edible hemp products. Those limitations echo language included in earlier district documents and the November 20, 2023 memo that outlined minimum sale terms and restrictions for the former school.

Sacred Bundle is described in reporting as a tribally chartered nonprofit affiliated with the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe; KAXE and other local outlets identified Erika Bailey-Johnson as vice president of Sacred Bundle and reported she will manage the organization’s “Minwaadizi Project” at the downtown site. KAXE reported that programming under the Minwaadizi Project could begin as soon as this summer, and Yahoo noted Sacred Bundle’s stated mission to support “sustainable human, environmental, cultural and community development,” listing affiliations with Apple Blossom Village, the Family Spirit Program, Northwest Indian Community Development Center and Wilderness Awareness School.

The Central Elementary building was retired as a district school at the end of the 2020–21 school year as a cost-saving measure and was declared surplus in district records. Meetings Boardbook documents show the property was declared surplus in August 2023 and that a March 27, 2023 closed session set a minimum sale price and use restrictions; a Nov. 20, 2023 memo from Business Services Director Ashley Eastridge recommended a sale to Red Lake Nation for $350,000. Local reporting says a purchase agreement with Red Lake Nation was accepted in November 2023 and that Red Lake later withdrew its offer a few months later, reported as April 2024. In October 2025 the board reviewed a letter of intent in closed session and authorized the district’s real estate agent and Business Director Ashley Eastridge to proceed with a potential buyer.

Board materials and local reporting show the Feb. 20 vote was taken after discussion in closed session and that the district is treating Feb. 27, 2026 as the expected closing date; news outlets also noted the board’s next regular meeting scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 23 in the district office board room, with an informal listening session at 5:45 p.m. Reporters and county records remain positioned to confirm whether the sale formally closes and when deed restrictions are recorded in Beltrami County land records.