County Innovations and Solutions - Nov. 16, 2015

Aging School Finds Second Life 

Pender County, N.C. had an awfully nice school.

The Topsail Consolidated School, built in 1924, was a longtime part of the coastal North Carolina community. It was historic — one of the area’s first integrated high schools. And, it had a place in young people’s hearts, being used as a middle school until the mid-1990s and as a venue for community college classes.

“It’s been a symbol of com­munity pride, but the school was in bad shape,” said County Manager Randell Woodruff, who came to the county long after the last students left.

Early in the 21st century, those memories were all the school building had going for it. Vacant and falling into disrepair, its public highlight was being listed on the 2009 list of Most Threatened Places by the Historic Wilmington Foundation. At least someone noticed it was still around.

By 2013, the county came to the rescue. Even though the building’s best days seemed to be in its past, the county’s future, resulting from a 7.8 percent population boom from 2010 to 2014, would secure the building’s role.

Almost three-quarters of the county’s population lives close to the Atlantic coast, more than a half-hour’s drive from the county seat of Burgaw, and since 2008, the county had been leasing a former medical office in the area as home to satellite offices to the tune of $150,000 a year.

The building housed the sher­iff ’s office and departments includ­ing health and human services, planning and community develop­ment, permitting and inspections, veterans’ services and juvenile jus­tice services. As demand for those services increased, so did the space they would need, and the school, which the county had acquired in 2004, was the perfect place.

After $4.8 million in renova­tions, repairs and asbestos reme­diation, the school was ready to become the “county government annex.”

The building’s legacy dovetailed when the grandson of the original 1920s architect who designed the school, himself an architect, came on to oversee the renovations.

“We wanted to keep the build­ing as historically significant as possible, but still move into the 21st century,” said Planning Director Kyle Breuer.

A separate cafeteria build­ing houses the sheriff ’s office, juvenile justice department and a magistrate’s office, along with two holding cells. The rest of the departments are in the school.

It’s not all for official use. Two conference rooms and an audito­rium in the annex are available for the public.

Though the nearly-$5 million price tag is much higher than the $150,000 annual lease for office space, the departments the old medical office housed would eventually need more space, and energy efficiencies added in the renovations will decrease utility costs. And, with almost an entire vacant floor, there’s room to grow.

But that wasn’t the only financial consideration.

“The school property is in the growing part of the county, near the resorts,” Breuer said. “It’s a highly-desirable location, com­mercially, and the county faced a critical decision about whether to keep the school or sell the property.”

County administration hasn’t looked back, though.

“The commissioners listened to the public, and they made it clear that school building was part of the county and they wanted it to stay that way,” Breuer said. 

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