Buildings, portion of land at Sinclair Farm to be sold

Part of the university-owned Sinclair Farm — the more than 500 acres between Nifong Boulevard and Route K — is expected to be put up for sale soon. Money from the sale is planned for the MU Sinclair School of Nursing.

“We are preparing the land to be sold, but there’s no specific timeline yet,” MU spokesman Christian Basi said. “When we are ready to sell it, we will be making a public announcement.”

The 26 buildings on the land are also being prepared for sale, Basi said. The land was being leased to a research company.

How much land is to be sold has yet to be determined. Low-level radioactive wastes were stored in a regulated site on about two acres of the land 30 to 40 years ago, Basi said. MU is working with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to make sure the ground is safe, though recent tests have shown that none of the chemicals have moved from the original storage site, he said.

Part of the agreement with the Natural Resources Department stipulates that MU must keep control of a portion of land on and around the storage site.

“It is probably going to be in the neighborhood of five to 10 acres,” Basi said, adding that MU’s responsibilities will include maintenance of the land.

Basi said MU probably wouldn’t have a lot of control over the use of the land, located in a growing residential area.

MU officials won’t estimate how much the land would be worth until they determine the amount of land to be sold, Basi said.

The land was donated by Charles and Josie Sinclair, namesakes of the MU Sinclair School of Nursing. The Sinclairs had stipulated that any profits from the land, if sold, must be directed to the nursing school.