County trying to acquire old gym building

Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.

The 75-year-old building on South Water Street that formerly served as the old high school’s gymnasium may yet get a facelift and a new lease on life, or it may be that it ends up as rubble, depending on the outcome of the ongoing negotiations between county and school district officials.
County Manager Shannon Metty reports that she has been in talks with school officials about the district’s possible transfer to the county of all the high school buildings that make up the present-day government complex, including the gym.
The talks, she says, appear to be going well, with the conversation nearing the point where the attorneys for the two sides may soon be asked to draw up the necessary paperwork for the transfer.
The county currently pays some $24,000 annually to the district for the lease of the property, including the A-Building, which has absorbed hundreds of thousands of dollars in restoration work and still requires much more work. County officials believe that the money going toward the lease could be better used to further the restoration effort.
Metty, in fact, recently got the go-ahead from the Jefferson County Commission to push ahead with the negotiations with school officials in hope that the two can come to an agreement on the buildings.
County officials have long argued that it’s wasteful and redundant for one public entity to pay another public entity for the use of a community asset that’s taxpayer-owned either way. This argument, however, has not gotten much traction with the school board in the past.
Part of the negotiations include the county also acquiring the gym, which has long stood abandoned, although some organizations, such as the Police Athletic League (PAL), have made use of it in the past for youth programs. At this point, however, the building is in extreme disrepair, which is the main reason that PAL abandoned it.
Commissioner Gene Hall has long advocated for renovation and conversion of the building into a community center or youths facility. He recently called on Building Inspector James Kaufman do an assessment of the structure.
It was Kaufman’s determination, according to Hall, that the building is currently unsafe and hence stands essentially condemned.
“I believe that Jefferson County commissioners should ask for it and remodel the facility so it can be repurposed for use as a community center or Boys & Girls Club,” Hall recently emailed the News, adding that such a move would help reduce juvenile delinquency.
Hall, however, isn’t the only one with designs on the building, should the county acquire it.
Metty has told commissioners that Natalie Binder, director the Jefferson County R. J. Bailar Public Library, also is interested in the space and has expressed ideas on how it can best be utilized. Plus, Metty has said, Binder has the funds in her budget to implement her ideas.
These ideas, Metty says, include possibly tearing down the structure and creating a landscaped green space with basketball courts and other public-oriented activities that would benefit to the community.
Additionally, at the legislative delegation hearing here in January, Pastor Eddie Yon, of the Restored Glory Christian Center in Monticello, appealed to the lawmakers for funding to repair and convert the building into a youth center. Kids in Monticello, he said, had precious little to do or places to go at present. The legislators, in particular Senator Corey Simon, expressed interest in the idea and promised to follow up.
As far as Metty is concerned, the first step is to acquire the building. If this happens, she says, then workshops can be held and community input sought as to what to do with the structure and how best to utilize it. But ultimately, she says, it will come down to money and who has the budget to implement their vision.
The fate of the gym has long been in question. A few years back, there was an effort first to use some of the NextEra monies to restore the building, followed by one to get a federal grant via the U.S. Department of Agriculture to repair and renovate it. Both efforts, however, ultimately came to naught.
The NextEra funding derived from $3.3 million that the energy company pledged to the county in 2020 in direct and service contributions in exchange for local officials rescinding an ordinance that aimed to regulate the high-voltage transmission line that now runs across the county.
Erected in 1948 and renovated in 1979, the gym long served the high school for its athletic activities and general assemblies, until it was abandoned in the 1990s. It has since stood largely abandoned and has slowly fallen into disrepair through the years.