Annika Fox, a freshman at Maury High School, went to get a drink of water one day. She found a fountain overflowing with “brown murky liquid.”
She said most visitors only see the beautiful architecture — the stately pillars framing the main entrance, the grand marble entrance and the stunning auditorium — in the more than 110-year-old building. Annika and her classmates, though, sweat through health class during warmer months because the air-conditioning doesn’t work. She avoids touching the walls so the chipping paint does not leave white dust on her clothes, and some of the hallway floors are buckling.
Norfolk School Board member Noelle Gabriel has seen the deteriorating conditions for more than a decade and voted Wednesday to move forward with a plan that could build a new school while preserving the original structure for housing. The board voted unanimously on a proposal submitted by Heartland Construction, Work Program Architects, VMDO Architect and The Monument. This starts a monthslong process to negotiate a contract.
“This decision has been a long time coming, and one that was made after many thoughtful conversations with members of the community and very passionate alumni as well as current teachers, students and parents,” board chair Adale Martin said in a statement.
If negotiations go as planned, Heartland could start work on the new Maury in November 2024; it could open in August 2029.
Some changes were made to the Heartland proposal since it was shared with the public earlier this year. Original plans included a parking garage to be shared by the school and housing. The school was a four-story structure.
A work group this fall did not recommend those plans. Concerns about the lack of competing proposals and safety in the parking garage were among the reasons the group suggested putting out requests for new proposals.
Later, Heartland submitted changes, most notably a smaller school building and the removal of the parking garage. That’s what the board approved for moving forward.
Board member Rodney Jordan described the proposal as a “twofer.” Gabriel said she’s sad the building would not be a school anymore, but this would balance the need for a modern, sustainable building with the desire to preserve the city’s oldest high school.
Since the initial HBA Architecture and Interior Design recommendations to tear down and rebuild Maury, or renovate it, a vocal group of community members have pushed to preserve the iconic structure. Yard signs advocating to “Save Maury High School” can be seen around Norfolk, largely in the Ghent area surrounding the school.
“It is a hollow claim that renovating the historic school will not give future students what they need,” said Alice Allen Grimes, a community member and parent of former Maury students, during the Nov. 29 meeting. “No one has any idea what the future will bring and there is nothing about a new school built today that will better serve students than a well-renovated Maury.”
Julie Malcolm, a parent of a Maury graduate and current student, said the debate has been too centered on the building itself. It was not maintained, she said, and the neglect shows. Malcolm said the school has been in a “purgatory state.” She said because the division has been unsure about the future, money was not being invested into maintaining Maury.
Malcolm hopes more is done for today’s students.
Malcolm wrote in a statement on behalf of a group of Maury parents: “…we still have concerns about the lengthy timeline to completion, and the state of the current building which will continue to deteriorate over the next six years. We urge the board to consider what can be done in the meantime to make the current building temporarily more safe, while at the same time striving to get students in a 21st century as soon as possible.”
