A Richmond School Board committee today received a recommendation for how it might eliminate a warehouse that was targeted as an excessive expense in an audit earlier this year.

The contents of and programs at the building on Arlington Road could be dispersed primarily to the old Norrell Elementary School Annex in Battery Park, school system Director of Finance Keith Brown told the board's operations and facilities committee.

The warehouse, and another nearby on the Boulevard, were mentioned in an April audit of school system procurement and accounts payable functions. The city auditor, Umesh Dalal, suggested then that the schools move the contents elsewhere and sell the two buildings.

The Arlington Road warehouse is home to the city's driver's education program. It also houses spare parts for school maintenance and a variety of paper records, including some finance records and instructional material.

Brown said the Norrell property could accommodate all but the finance records, which would be diverted a third-party storage service that already handles other school documents. The move would not impact use of the building by a variety of community groups.

The move, Brown said, could net the school system about $1.6 million. His figure was based on selling the building for its assessed value -- $1.8 million -- minus the cost of relocating goods and programs. The biggest expense, estimated at $137,500, would be for paving a course for driver's ed.

School Board members on the committee requested four things -- study of the traffic impact near Norrell, meeting with community leaders, commercial appraisal of the warehouse and talk with city officials -- before agreeing to move the recommendation to the full board for review. That's expected to happen in time for the committee's next meeting, tentatively scheduled for Sept. 10.

-- Zachary Reid