ONANCOCK, VA — Capital improvements to the Historic Onancock School are at the center of a debate over responsibility and funding as town officials consider whether to support efforts to generate approximately $750,000 in needed repairs.
The cornerstone of 6 College Avenue was laid during the construction of Onancock High School in 1921. For more than sixty years, students received an education within the school's brick walls. The class of 1984 was the last to graduate from the Onancock High School.
Friends of Onancock School, a nonprofit organization, formed in 2006 to preserve and revitalize the school property as a public open space. The following year, the group entered into a 40-year lease agreement with the town of Onancock.
Since then, the property has operated as a cultural community center. Artists and businesses rent studio space. The nonprofit also regularly hosts community events, with the next event scheduled for Saturday, May 3.
"I gravitated to this space because of just the beauty of it," Onancock Historic School's new Executive Director Corey Kavulich said. "Being able to repurpose the building and have all these magnificent people inside, these thriving artists and working artists."
However, maintaining a more than 100-year-old structure comes with significant challenges.
"Fifteen years ago, we got a building study done that said there was an enormous amount of work that needed to be done," Town Manager Matt Spuck said.
The study identified extensive capital improvements, many of which remain today, including a new HVAC system and either resealing or replacing the roof. Spuck estimates the pressing repairs would amount to $750,000.
During a Monday night meeting of the Onancock Town Council, officials disagreed on who was responsible for raising these funds. Some council members
“Every time you turn around, there’s something else they have their hand out for, and the lease says no,” one council member said during a heated exchange at the meeting.
Mayor Fletcher Fosque said this was a false statement and mischaracterized the Friends of Onancock School. Other council members expressed concern that if the nonprofit lessee could not afford these repairs before the end of their lease term, the town-owned property would fall into disrepair.
“Whether we spend it now with them as the managers of the property or we spend it later as a dilapidated property in the middle of town, we’re going to spend it,” another council member said.
Sheila Sheppard Vera, who lived near the Historic Onancock School, says the town should consider the long-term value of investing in the upkeep of the building.
"When this lease is up, the town will have the full responsibility of this asset," Sheppard Vera said. "If we allow this asset to crumble, then the town is harming its own asset."
If the town council decides to support the repairs, Spuck said the money would not come from the town's operating budget. He said the most likely avenue of support would be helping to identify a private investor who believes in the nonprofit's mission.