‘We’re not on the same team’: Powhatan Board of Supervisors asks school board for ownership of the Pocahontas Landmark Center

POWHATAN COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- Debate around the partial demolition of the Pocahontas Landmark Center (PLC) in Powhatan County continues. 

The Powhatan Board of Supervisors (BOS) voted unanimously to ask the school board to transfer land ownership of the PLC to the BOS during a July 28 meeting. This request asked the school board chair to sign an agreement transferring ownership of the PLC to Powhatan County.

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. 

For some, the PLC, located at 4290 Anderson Highway, serves as a historical symbol of desegregation and could be renovated for community use. For others, the cost to do so could be too much on taxpayers. 

According to the BOS, the county issued debt and borrowed $900,000 in 2024 on behalf of the public schools for the demolition before the BOS conducted studies that they said found the buildings could be renovated. The school board received a bid for the project within the $900,000 amount. 

The building, once an elementary, middle and high school, hasn’t been used as a school since 2018, but school administrators' offices and the African American Cultural Arts Museum operate there. The BOS said this wouldn’t change with a land transfer, but some school board members and residents see the renovation as a money pit.  

Of the seven residents who spoke during the BOS public comment period on July 28, only one person was in favor of the partial demolition.

“I want to ask the Board of Supervisors to try and save the full school building," said one resident.

“No demolition, please," said resident Simon Wong.

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.

The one person in favor of the demolition who spoke at the BOS meeting was school board member Dr. James Taylor. He said the property has been debated on since he joined the board in 2021.  

“One of the first things I did was go and take a tour with our current chair of B, C and D wings and it was in that walkthrough that I saw firsthand the damage that the leaky roofs had caused due to years of neglect," said the District 4 representative.

He said this debate between the two boards has "created nothing but division" during a school board meeting in May.

Inside the Pocahontas Landmark Center. (Courtesy of the Powhatan County School Board)

The school board plans to leave the A-wing where the offices and museum are, and by doing this, they said the most historical part of the campus will be saved. This means the B, C and D wings will be demolished.

The BOS said if they took over the land, the school system could keep using the office space at no cost, the museum would stay as it is and the county would pay for for all maintenance, utilities and capital costs.

Additionally, the BOS said they began a study this year, which was left unfinished, that found wings B, C and D 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.

Dr. 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 engineers’ earlier recommendation for demolition was not solely based on health and safety reasons," said County Administrator Will Hagy during the meeting. "The engineers noted that the B, C and D wings could potentially be renovated instead of demolished.”  

But a 2023 study from Dewberry Engineers said to quote “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. 

Still, the BOS wants more time to complete a study to see if renovations are feasible. 

“I haven’t heard one thing from the school board about how keeping this facility benefits the education of one student in this county," said BOS District 4 representative Mark Kinney.

Dr. Taylor said the school system would be better served by demolishing the buildings and using the land for a different purpose in the future when the time and need is right. But Denise Morrissette, supervisor for District 5, said that county growth isn’t happening near the PLC, so if there was a need for another school building, it wouldn’t be there.

She also said the number of students is shrinking and anticipate that will continue, so there is no need for a new school in the near future. 

Dr. Taylor feels the BOS waited until the last minute to step in and take action on the land.   

“I believe there must be a separation between the two boards," he said. "While it sounds noble to say that we are on the same team, we’re not on the same team. We’re, in fact, two different boards.”  

Dr. Taylor went on to say the BOS's focus cannot be solely on the school system, but the entire county, and that the school board’s window of focus much smaller. He believes the deal the BOS is proposing is "too good to be true," and that building a community center right now, whether at the PLC or elsewhere, is simply a “want” and “fiscally irresponsible.”

Supervisor for District 2 Steve W. McClung said he would not sign on to destroying "an asset that the residents of [the] county...owns."

Demolition has been postponed several times and is still in limbo as the school board tries to get the proper permitting.

“We have an asset, and if we knock it down, guess what? We don’t have the asset any longer," said supervisor for District 3 Robert Powers.