Inside the old Blacksburg Middle School gym.
The old Blacksburg Middle School building on Main Street is on track for demolition by Jan. 31, but first it must go through asbestos removal.
After sitting vacant for five years, the building is being pushed toward eventual rezoning and development in order to generate new funds for schools, including repairs on Blacksburg High School.
According to town code, the money generated from the sale and development of the site will go toward schools since it was previously owned by the Montgomery County School Board.
At a Nov. 9 meeting, the Montgomery County Economic Development Department found that demolishing the building and rezoning the property for mixed-use development would provide the greatest return to county tax payers and schools.
With the building removed, the 20-acre site could sell for about $2.8 million as it is currently zoned, but could sell for $8.1 million if it is rezoned for mixed-use development.
“Mixed-use basically allows a combination of retail, offices and residential development,” said Brian Hamilton, Montgomery County’s economic development director.
The department plans to have the property building-free and officially rezoned by next summer, when it will issue bids for developers.
But before it can be legally demolished, asbestos must be removed from the 1950s-era building.
Hamilton said that process will begin in less than two weeks and should last 60 to 90 days.
The county contracted Richmond-based Waco, Inc., for the process.
At a cost of $135,617, it had the lowest estimate of the eight contractor bids the county received.
Hamilton said while the removal process can be very technical, it is one that is performed across the country every day.
“They have to suit up, almost like in an operating room,” Hamilton said. “You build tents around the areas where asbestos is to be removed, and you spray it with hot water the entire time as you bag it as hazardous waste.”
Fences will be erected during the removal to reduce unsightliness.
The next step for the county is to contract an engineer to design the demolition of the building.
“As soon as the asbestos contractor will step off the site the demolition engineer will step on. That is our goal,” Hamilton said.
The building was built in 1954, and it served as the town’s high school until the high school on Patrick Henry Drive was built in 1973. It then became the Blacksburg Middle School until 2003, but has been vacant since 2005.
A version of this article appeared in the Nov 17 issue of the Collegiate Times.
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Thank god!
Knock that relic down, rezone for mixed use and get a great mix of public parks,
parking deck, residential, office, cultural-public use and retail/restaurants on that site.
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How about the town and the University put in a ice skating rink like what they have in Charlottesville. They the Hokie Hockey team wouldn't have to play in Roanoke and it could work in a mixed-used development
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This should have happened years ago when they had an eight million dollar offer and the town blocked it with zoning crap. Blacksburg Va. the most unfriendly to business town in the USA.
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From all I've seen Blacksburg is about smart growth that not only promotes economic development but also community. If they didn't make carefully planned decisions on sites like the Middle School, the town could be stuck with a development that could end up costing them in the long run with its external costs to our community (traffic, noise, pollution, run off). Blacksburg has standards comparable to Northern VA and Charlottesville that continue to make it a great place to live that the rest of sprawl hungry Southwest VA don't see.
I'm thrilled to hear this news on the Middle School and am excited to see what mixed-use developments come in!
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If the Town truly thought out their decisions, we wouldn't have so many empty storefronts downtown. Putting limitations in to control "sprawl" is one thing. Making it virtually impossible to operate a profitable business (in existing properties, no less) in the town center is another altogether.
There is a reason why it's so difficult to find a major contractor that has done business here before. Once they have had to deal with all of the Town's "carefully planned decisions" once, they no longer want to work here.
Do you think a MUD won't bring any of those external costs you mention? Traffic, noise, pollution, runoff - it all comes with development. Any decision the town makes to develop that spot will bring all of those, so what was wrong with that original $8 mil? Bburg does some shady things, but you can keep on drinking that kool aid all you want.
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