Collegiate Times

The old Blacksburg Middle School structure on South Main Street remains deserted, though it has not hosted classes since a new secondary school opened for students in 2002.

The reasons behind the vacancy are numbered, along with the dissenting opinions on how to handle the property. However, town leaders have agreed that the value of the property and potential it has will play a significant role in its future purpose.

Blacksburg's town council, school board and town members are all important players in this decision. The number of people vying to be heard creates a stalemate, as each party waits for the decision of the other.

The school board owns the middle school, and feels the need to reassess the property. They are contemplating reopening the building as a school or selling it for a new purpose.

"It may be appropriate for it to be another school because Blacksburg is growing," said Donald Langrehr, a town council member. "The schools are becoming overcrowded, and that property is in a central location. We're hoping the decision will come in soon, but we are not holding our breath, either."

Recently, the groups have discussed planning an international design competition for a new use of the property. If this plan is put into action, the school board will sell the property to the competition winner. This is seen as compromise, as the town would benefit from the profit of the sale and the townspeople generally favor a civic use for the building. The design competition would foster many ideas for new uses of the property that could benefit the citizens of the town.

The project was scheduled to start a month from now, but was put on hold as the school board expressed concerns over the growth of the Blacksburg population and the need for a new school.

"(The school board) is wisely stopping for a moment to catch their breath and reassess the situation," said Leslie Hager-Smith, vice mayor of Blacksburg. "It shows real wisdom on their part to see how quickly population is growing. Many ideas for the use of the building were put in place years ago, and they have the courage to reassess. It's exactly what a good governing body does."

The town council is open to both options. They support the design competition and have voted to appropriate money for this project.

"We already have a pretty good idea of what might come out of the competition," Hager-Smith said. "Public opinion favors a civic use for that location -- like a school or park -- because it's in the heart of downtown Blacksburg. It also makes sense for the schools to look at the data."

The town governing body does not want to do anything the school board is not ready for. The design competition will not commence until the decision to sell is absolute.

"We are stepping back and letting the school board look at the details," said Blacksburg Mayor Ron Rordam. "Personally I have always thought a school in the middle of downtown is a wonderful idea. I have no problem with that. We have offered to work with them to help them maintain it and have a partnership if that is their decision. We do have some overcrowded schools."

It is possible the decision will come soon, although the parties speculate it will take at least several months before a final measure is decided upon. There may be temporary uses for the property while the school board contemplates the best course of action.

"Right now, everything is kind of on hold until the school board makes a definite statement," said Paul Lancaster, member of the Old Blacksburg Middle School Transition Committee. "In the meanwhile, it may be possible to put in recreational fields until they make the decision. The main thing would be use of the football stadium. The stands would be torn down to make other soccer or baseball fields."

For now though, the land will remain occupied by the older, vacant structure. The school board will be meeting several times in coming months to discuss the next move.

"Bottom line, nothing is going to happen for a while," Lancaster said.