Powhatan school board votes 3-2 to move forward with Pocahontas Landmark Center demolition

POWHATAN COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- A majority of the Powhatan County School Board voted once again to move forward with the demolition of part of the Pocahontas Landmark Center (PLC).

For some, the PLC, and former Pocahontas Middle School, serves as a symbol of desegregation and could be renovated for community use. For others, the cost to taxpayers could be too much and it could pose safety issues.

The school board voted 3-2 on Tuesday, August 12 to move forward with the demolition.

The Board of Supervisors (BOS) voted unanimously at their last meeting on July 28 to ask the school board for more time to see if renovations to the buildings are feasible and for the land to be handed over to them. A majority of the school board said it’s too late for that.  

“No secrets were kept, everything was done publicly," said District 3 school board member Jeanne Wade during the Tuesday meeting.

The plan calls to demolish wings B, C and D of the PLC. The BOS said they began a study this year, which was left unfinished, that found the three wings could be renovated into a potential community center. The BOS said the cost of renovating the PLC “could potentially” be less than a new build on a similar amount of square footage, but did not give exact figures.

School board member Dr. James Taylor said that in March, the school board chair Susan Smith “reluctantly” agreed to allow the BOS 60 days to do a study on the feasibility of a renovation, but after three to four weeks of no action, the school board moved ahead on a demolition contract, halting the study the BOS said they started.  

The topic of the PLC has created division not only between the BOS and school board, but within the school board itself as well.

“It shouldn’t be a battle between school board and Board of Supervisors," said school board member for District 1 Vicki Hurt. "It should be a point where we should be collaborating with each other.”  

In a back and forth exchange between school board members Michele Ward and Dr. Taylor, Ward said Dr. Taylor said he was speaking for the entire school board when he spoke publicly at the most recent Board of Supervisors meeting and was "putting words in [her] mouth." Dr. Taylor denied this, before Chairwoman Susan Smith told them to "behave."

“Everyone has taken this very personal and it should not be personal," Ward said.   

The PLC, located at 4290 Anderson Highway, hasn’t been a school since 2018, but there are offices for school administrators and the African American Cultural Arts Museum. The BOS has said this wouldn’t change with a land the transfer, but some school board members see renovation as a money pit.  

Dr. Taylor said the community center wouldn't start coming fruition until 2028, so in theory the buildings would sit there with no maintenance for at least another two years. With Pocahontas Elementary School right next door, some school board members think attracting people to the area with a community center could be a safety issue.

“Safety has to be a priority and I just- I can’t go along with it," Dr. Taylor said.

A 2023 study from Dewberry Engineers said to “demolish the B-wing in its entirety” for “black mold and standing water” and that “it’s unsafe to occupy B-wing without an N95 mask.”  It also recommended demolishing parts of the D-wing for quote “hazardous spaces” with “water, mold” and asbestos. The C-wing would need an entirely new roof from water damage.

This leaves what school board member Jeanne Wade said is the most historical wing standing- wing A. But member Ward said it should be all of them that stay standing for that reason.

“This PLC building where we’re sitting here, yes it has the majority of the significance but [it's] all of those buildings," Ward said.  

Hurt said the public hasn’t been made aware enough of the issue, but discussions on what to do began in 2014, several boards ago. Still, it was she and Ward who voted to delay demolition and want the BOS to take over.   

“It just goes against my grain to destroy an asset that belongs to the taxpayers if it could be saved," Hurt said. 

The Board of Supervisors has been pushing to take over the land, even after the school board voted 4-to-1 in June approving a contract to keep it and demolish some of the building. 

“When you say that we are entrusted to make the right decision, we did," said school board chair Susan Smith. "We studied it. We put it out there for discussion. We voted on it. We moved forward with the plan. They [BOS] approved the funds. They approved the plan.” 

During a May meeting, the school board voted 3-2 to demolish it, Ward and Hurt voting against it then as well. In June, Ward and Hurt tried to move the vote to a later date to possibly discuss different avenues with the BOS. That request was denied, and only Ward voted against the demolition contract.

The county opened the Powhatan Training School in 1931, offering upper-level courses to Black students. The county then opened what became a segregated high school in 1937. It was initially called the Powhatan Colored School but was changed to Pocahontas High School in 1941. An elementary wing was added in 1950.

In 1969, the school became the integrated Pocahontas Middle School, and the high school was permanently closed.

The county opened a new middle school in 2018, closing Pocahontas Middle and making it the PLC.

Demolition has had to be rescheduled multiple times as the school board tries to get the proper permitting.