A Tucson-based medical college is giving a closed middle school a second chance at life.

Late last year, Pima Medical Institute purchased the former Townsend Middle School at 2120 N. Beverly Avenue. The $5.6 million sale is the largest deal for a closed TUSD school to date.

Townsend opened in 1956 and closed in 2013 as TUSD trid to cut costs. Two years earlier, the middle school opened its doors to displaced Fort Lowell Elementary School students after their school closed.

The vacant building will once more be used for educational purposes. This time, Pima Medical Institute (PMI) will move in. PMI is a for-profit medical career college that prepares students for careers as allied health care professionals. As the largest independently owned, private allied health school in the country, PMI is is nationally accredited by the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools. They are planning to consolidate its Tucson campuses on the new site, as well as its executive offices.

For more information on how this former public school is being repurposed for adult education, please visit the official website here.