The Bay School Community Arts Center in Mathews has decided to postpone demolition of the L.M. Callis home behind the center that it purchased for expansion last year.

Board of directors chair Kelsey Desmond said the Bay School had listened to the concerns that had been pouring in from the Mathews community over the past couple of weeks and had decided to take a second look at the house.

When residents learned about the demolition plans, Desmond said, they began contacting board members with ideas for refurbishing the old building and reorganizing the interior, possibly with the use of grant funds from foundations. Given such widespread community interest, she said, “we felt the best thing for everyone is to consider the community input and continue our research and plans to develop a bigger and better Bay School to meet all the needs of our Mathews community.”

Ultimately, said Desmond, the school will have to do what’s best to meet its needs, so she couldn’t...