The Council Bluffs (Iowa) Community School District has bought a former Target store and plans to convert it into a temporary home for a middle school.
KETV reports that Kirn Middle School students and staff will move into the building for the 2019-20 school year while the existing school is renovated.
The 90,000-square-foot Target building at the Mall of the Bluffs has sat vacant for about 10 years.
A spokesperson for the school district says the district chose the old Target largely because of its size. The district needed 60,000 to 90,000 square feet to accommodate a 1,000-student middle school.
The space will serve as a middle school for at least two years.
In fall 2019, Kirn Middle School will move in for a year. Then, in fall 2020, Wilson Middle School students and staff will relocate there while renovations at their existing campus take place.
The former store space will have 60 classrooms, a music area, a kitchen and cafeteria and a multipurpose room.
The district is still working to determine how it will use the property after the renovations of Wilson and Kirn middle schools are completed.
