Martinsville Bulletin, Inc.
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Martinsville, Virginia 24115
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| Ridgeway Elementary School building now empty |
This is the now vacant Ridgeway Elementary School. |
Monday, December 8, 2008
By MICKEY POWELL - Bulletin Staff Writer
Wanted: Ideas for converting the now-vacant Ridgeway Elementary School into another institution that will benefit the community.
A community meeting, organized by Ridgeway resident Sam Brown, will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday at First Baptist Church at the intersection of Virginia 87 (Morehead Avenue) and Church Street for people to share their ideas.
Ridgeway Elementary, which is on Church Street, closed in June. Students moved into the former Drewry Mason Middle School on U.S. 220 Business a few miles away, which was converted into an elementary school, in August.
Officials with the Henry County Schools have said Ridgeway Elementary, which is more than 80 years old, was hard to heat, had limited space so several outbuildings were needed and had traffic flow problems.
Brown said he has heard various ideas for reusing Ridgeway Elementary, including converting it into a community center or recreation center.
“We don’t want it to become an eyesore” by remaining unused, he said.
But for the building to be reused, he said, “we must get consensus among community members” as to what it should be used for and develop a plan.
Also, a nonprofit organization may need to be established to oversee the plan, as well as the building once it is being used again, Brown said.
He said he envisions Ridgeway Elementary evolving into a place much like Spencer-Penn Centre in the western part of Henry County. That community center was established in the former Spencer-Penn School. It has space for meetings, classes, banquets and special events, as well as a library and an early childhood education center.
But “it’s not up to me to say what’s right or wrong” for the Ridgeway school, Brown said. “We don’t want to be a competing factor” with Spencer-Penn.
The county owns the building. The Henry County Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing during its meeting at 6 p.m. Dec. 16 to hear comments from county residents on how the county should dispose of Ridgeway Elementary.
County Administrator Benny Summerlin said the county has no plans to use the building, so it should be sold or disposed of in some other way.
However, “it’s not a question of what the bid is,” Summerlin said, referring to a potential buyer. “The question is what (use) will benefit” Ridgeway and the surrounding area. Brown made a similar comment.
Summerlin said the board of supervisors will study plans it hears for reusing the building before it approves any disposition.
Supervisors also want to give people time to prepare plans, so it probably will be a few months before the board makes a decision, he said.
When a use is determined, grant funds for redeveloping the building can be pursued, Brown said.
“The infrastructure is already there,” he said. “It will just take some money” to start the redevelopment. |
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