LORAIN — Lorain City Schools and the Lorain Port Authority agreed Tuesday to begin negotiations for the school district to lease 30 acres of Port Authority land along the Black River to build the new Lorain High School.

“This is just the initial step,” said school board mem­ber Tim Williams.

“We still have to craft the lease.”

The lease would be for no less than 50 years. School board Vice President Paul Biber said the amount of the lease would likely be “nominal.”

Superintendent Cheryl Atkinson said preliminary soil tests at the site came out “good,” so the district is ready to go ahead.

The school district has $70 million to build the new high school, funded by the Ohio School Facilities Commission and a 2001 bond issue.

The new high school will be an anchor of riverfront development that could also someday include a health campus and a new library, said Port Authority Director Richard Novak.

Biber said it’s conceivable that a new athletics complex could eventually be added to the campus.

“Most of the feedback I’ve gotten from people has been positive,” he said. “There’s some very strong enthusiasm.”

Mike Beatty, a former Port Authority member, is one of those who is very enthusiastic.

“This is such a tremendous opportunity for Lorain,” he said. He pointed to the possibility of building four wind towers that could generate enough electricity for all Lorain schools as a way the site can help not only the schools but the city.

“We can become a city at the forefront of green technology,” he said. “Imagine what that would do for the economy here.”

Not everyone is happy with the news. Former Lorain Council member Dennis Flores said there are safety hazards at the site, such as the river and nearby train trestle, as well as noise and dust issues from industrial sites just across the river.

Flores also said he believes the new high school belongs in a neighborhood, not in a commercial area.

“The Admiral King site is feasible,” he said. “And with the Charleston property right there, there’s room to grow at much less cost.”

Lorain resident Chuck Merrick agreed.

“Why do we need to lease land when we already have the land at Admiral King?” he said.

Flores also scoffed at the contention in the memorandum that building the new high school along the river will revitalize the downtown and riverfront areas.

“There are a lot more issues downtown that a new school can’t fix,” he said. “I think people were taken in with the ‘wow’ factor, thinking this is something new and different and hoping it will turn the schools around. But this doesn’t change being on academic watch, or dwindling enrollment, or teachers being laid off instead of administrators.” Ultimately, Flores said, whether the new location succeeds isn’t up to the school board or the Port Authority, but the students.

“I’m hoping for the best,” he said. “And I hope the kids know we’re giving them a school to set them up for the future, and that they don’t let themselves down.”

Contact Melissa Hebert at 329-7129 or mhebert@chroniclet.com.

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