The Gloucester County School Board is asking the community how it would like to see the T.C. Walker School campus utilized now that it has closed the K-5 elementary program that operated there.

"The campus offers a multi-use consideration," school division superintendent Ben Kiser said of the 64,000 square foot facility that includes a gymnasium and auditorium.

Kiser said school officials will accept ideas from the public through July 6. "The question is, what would you like to see the school board put in the T.C. Walker building? It has to be a relocation with no cost to the board," Kiser said. Those with suggestions can visit the school division website for submission information.

The full list of suggestions will be vetted by the board and staffers, who will compile a short list of possibilities for the board to consider during its Aug. 14 meeting.

One potential occupant for the building is the school division administration and related staff, which now occupy 16,000 square feet of office space in County Office Building 2. County supervisors approved a resolution June 5 recommending the school board relocate its administrative offices.

County administrator Brenda Garton formally presented the resolution to the school board Tuesday. Garton said county supervisors respected the school board’s right and duty to makes its own decisions about its facilities and their use and were only recommending that schools officials consider the move.

"There’s been discussion for quite a while of the county taking over that space and putting the school board somewhere else," Garton said. School staffers have occupied the county space rent free since 2001 when their former offices in the old Botetourt High School were demolished. Garton said the county would now like to relocate its staffers working in the deteriorating County Building 3 into the school administration offices.

To view this article in its entirety, subscribe here. Already an online subscriber? Login Here