Since 2012, it’s been the intention that after a new Anne E. Moncure Elementary School was built and opened (it did last month) the old school and the property on which it sits would be conveyed from the school division to the county government.
Now it has, but that deal was inked in an era when retail and commercial development around the now-abandoned school on Route 610 was booming. Today, when questions swirl over whether or not a new movie theater will ever be built at The Garrison, that boom time seems so long ago.
“That was 13 years ago. Things have changed,” said Aquia District Supervisor Cindy Shelton.
During a county infrastructure committee meeting Tuesday, Shelton said she’s heard from some school board members that, instead of conveying the land, they want to keep it and renovate the building that sits on it for a new transitional school for special education students that would cater to young adults.
In June, an advisory committee to the county School Board recommended holding on the building in case of future growth needs. “To my knowledge, there has been no request send to the Board of Supervisors or the School Board regarding the former [Moncure Elementary] site,” Hartwood District School Board representative Holly Hazard told us in an email.
In an email to Potomac Local, Stafford County Schools Administrator Dr. Scott Kizner echoed Hazard and wrote, “If the county or school board has different thoughts this can be addressed when both boards meet.”
The original deal was to sell the land to a developer once it was conveyed to the county government, so a new commercial property could be built on it. That, said Garrsionville District Supervisor Mark Dudenhefer, is one of the best uses of the land that sits in such a busy commercial area.
Other uses could include a new field house host travel teams, similar to one that had been considered at Aquia Town Center.
The county spent $40 million on the new Moncure Elementary School, located just a stone’s throw from the old building. “We need to recoup our investment in the new school over time, with new tax revenue generated,” said Dudenhefer.
Stafford County Administrator Tom Foley cautioned Supervisors not to wait too long, as costs to maintain the empty building will accumulate.
