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NORFOLK — The Norfolk School Board is moving forward with the process to consider what to do with Maury High School.
The board had been considering whether to tear down and rebuild the more than 110-year-old building or renovate it. However, a third option was brought forward late last year and discussed publicly for the first time during Wednesday’s meeting. This proposal calls for a new school and would turn the existing building into housing.
The board had been ready to vote in December on HBA Architecture and Interior Design’s four options developed through a feasibility study — for Maury to be modernized for “21st century learners” or to be torn down and rebuilt, but put off the decision to consider the third option brought forward by Heartland Construction, Work Program Architects, VMDO Architect and The Monument companies.
“The feasibility study assumes tax incentives couldn’t be used, so it produced that binary choice between renovate versus build new,” Wyck Knox, an architect with VMDO, said Wednesday. “Our team believes we can do both.”
[ Future of Norfolk’s oldest high school uncertain — even after years of debate ]
The proposal for “A New Maury High School + Saving a Historic Cultural Asset” aims to build a new four-story high school along 20th Street at the north end of the current building’s site.
Maury High would then be “restored and renovated” into new housing using historic tax credits.
Michael Ross with HBA previously told the board the school is not eligible for federal historic tax credits to help restore the structure because it does not generate its own income.
Though no decision was made when the board just had the HBA proposal, the option to tear down and build a four-story school had been considered. This option would cost an estimated $158 million, cheaper than the renovation options presented.
Public speakers were largely opposed to demolishing the building, which was recently listed as one Virginia’s most threatened historic places by Preservation Virginia.
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Maury is the oldest high school in the city and one of the oldest in the state. Though it is widely considered a prominent feature of the Ghent community, the building is showing its age.
Architects have noted where there is water erosion and rust on the exterior. The Virginian-Pilot has reported on water leaks, and in 2014, a portion of the auditorium ceiling collapsed during a band concert.
Many speakers came to a public hearing in early December to criticize the division’s process for not having true community engagement and for considering demolishing a piece of Norfolk’s history.
Several community members spoke during Wednesday’s meeting to urge the board to consider the new proposal and to reiterate their concerns about tearing down the historical structure. The new proposal “avoids fracturing the community over demolition of a treasured cultural asset,” according to a press release sent by Heartland Construction, Work Program Architects, VMDO Architect and The Monument companies.
Accepting the newest proposal for consideration means the division will soon be accepting competing proposals as directed by the board’s policy and the Public-Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act. These proposals would not have to follow same the same kind of plans brought up by HBA or Heartland Construction.
No decision on which construction company to go with or what the future of Maury could look like has been made. The division will open a 90-day window to accept the competing offers, which will then be reviewed by an internal working group made up of Norfolk Public Schools staff and members from the city manager’s staff.
Kelsey Kendall, kelsey.kendall@virginiamedia.com