Township selling Wolters House to Holland Christian Schools

An empty house that has been unused for more than a year in Wolters Woods Park in Laketown Township will be given a new life as an education hub after the Laketown Township Building Authority agreed on Jan. 29, 2026, to sell the house and about 1.77 acres of surrounding land to Holland Christian Schools.

“This is a win-win,” said authority Chairperson Bob Schaftenaar at the Jan. 29, 2026, meeting. “It’s very fair.”

Holland Christian Schools agreed to purchase the house and property at 6289 147^th Ave. for $410,000 and to close on the deal as soon as possible.

From September 2023 to August 2024, Holland Christian leased the property for $1,600 a month for a learning lab. Since that lease expired, the house has been unused.

The building will be used for an outdoor learning hub for students, according to Leanne Halma, director of advancement for the school district. It will need to be remodeled, something that could not be done when the district only leased the building, she said.

Wolters House history

The township bought the house on 2.5 acres of land in 2022 for about $350,000. After making mortgage payments, the township has about $237,000 left to pay.

The township purchased the land to preserve the park area – the land is surrounded on three sides by the park — but struggled to find a use for the 2,260-square-foot home that belonged to the Rev. Lloyd Wolters who passed away on Oct. 7, 2022.

The park is named after the Wolters family who were instrumental in establishing the park in 1992.

The building authority wanted to make sure the Wolters family would not be offended by a possible sale, so the township reached out to surviving members who thanked the township for its consideration.

“We unanimously agreed that Dad (Lloyd Wolters) and Grandma & Grandpa (Ed & Laura Wolters) would have given their blessing to this transaction,” family members wrote in an email dated Jan. 20. “Most of the land is still a park as Grandpa and Grandma wanted, but Holland Christian was near and dear to their hearts too. Dad (and I think all his siblings) attended and graduated from Holland Christian and Grandpa Wolters taught in the high school from about 1920-1926.”

The township also wanted to make sure the surrounding parkland was protected so it split the 2.5 acres into two parts – Parcel A with the house on about 1.77 acres and Parcel B on about 0.56 acres in front of the house. The township is retaining Parcel B and merging it into the park.

Parcel A was rezoned in December from R-1 to R-2, allowing the smaller lot size so more parkland was preserved.

The building authority added to its sale motion that the township gets the first chance to buy the property should Holland Christian decide to sell it in the future and that Holland Christian will not use the house as a single-family home or multi-family home.

The decision to sell the land was 2-1. Building Authority members Schaftenaar and township Manager Stephanie Fox voted to sell the property. Lynn Kobes opposed the sale, saying the township will never have a chance to own the land again.

After paying off the mortgage and covering miscellaneous legal costs and related fees, the township will have about $160,000 remaining that will go into the general fund.

The building authority unanimously voted to recommend the township board put the money into a capital account. The authority didn’t make any official suggestions on what to spend the money on but discussed options including repairs to the Felt Mansion, replacing stairs at the township beach and making upgrades to security at the township hall.