Holiday gift from local developer brings joy to school district
December 23, 2003
COLUMBIA, Mo. – As they nestle all snug in their beds this Christmas Eve, students in St. Louis may see visions of a new school thanks to Columbia developer Raul Walters and his family.
Learning that the area needed land for a possible future high school, the family recently donated a $6.6 million parcel to the Hazelwood School District in suburban St. Louis. The 75-acre tract is located at Lindbergh Blvd. and Old Jamestown Road near the Jamestown Mall in northern St. Louis County.
“We were thrilled to acquire this land, and we are really thankful to the Walters family for donating it,” said Dwight Lindhorst, Hazelwood’s assistant superintendent for finance and facilities. “Land is selling fast in our area, so this donation is a godsend. Knowing we have a good location for a future school makes planning much easier.”
Home to 27 schools, the Hazelwood School District is the third largest in the St. Louis metropolitan area, covering 78 square miles of territory north of Interstate 270 between the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. Any plans for a new school at this location will have to go through extensive discussions by Hazelwood’s citizens and administration.
“Education has always been important to me and my family,” Raul Walters said. “When we heard that this community needed assistance, we decided we had to help. My family and I take pride in supporting schools because our children are the future.”
The Walters family is known locally for its generous support of community projects, such as the Walters-Boone County Historical Society Museum and Visitors Center, dedicated in August 1990, and the Rhett Walters Memorial Mountain Bike Trail in Cosmo Park. Commonly known as “Rhett's Run,” the trail is named in honor of Raul’s son, an avid mountain bicyclist who died in a 1996 motorcycle accident.
In operation since 1968, Raul Walters Properties (RWP) is a privately held real estate development and management company with offices in Columbia, Mo., and Beverly Hills, Calif.
Originally released through Far West Public Relations.
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