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Vines climb the north side of Maury School in Fredericksburg. Closed in 1980, the building will be fixed up by Kenmore, the city and Mary Washington College.
Fredericksburg Councilman Scott Howson and Monica Pappas |
It may be hard to fathom, but imagine the dilapidated hulk of the old Maury School--broken windows and all--playing host to masterpieces by Renoir and Monet.
If a collaborative committee that's been meeting since October has its way, it will happen.
"I can definitely see getting exhibits from the Corcoran [gallery] and Smithsonian," said City Councilman Scott Howson, a member of the committee, who has made refurbishing Maury a near obsession since 1989. "In fact, it will be the first time Fredericksburg has secured a public gallery space."
Yesterday, a further commitment to that end was made when officials from Fredericksburg, Mary Washington College and George Washington's Fredericksburg Foundation signed a memorandum of understanding to restore the former school that closed in 1980.
Gathered under a blue and white tent on the spruced-up lawn in front of the school tucked between Kenmore and George streets, about 50 people witnessed the signing.
When completed, the site will be known as the The Maury Center in Liberty Town, the neighborhood where Maury is located.
"In the last 20 years, [the school] has lost its way," said Fredericksburg Mayor Bill Beck. "Now, we've charted a course for revitalizing the building and the neighborhood."
Beck's comments were laced with nautical references in keeping with the school's namesake, Matthew Fontaine Maury, an oceanographer known as the "pathfinder of the seas."
The committee's vision is to transform the former Fredericksburg High School into two entities.
The original section of the school--built in 1919--will be used as a civic center with meeting areas, a theatre and performance and exhibit space.
The other side--built in 1929--will be a presidential center, dedicated to housing research and other artifacts of Presidents James Monroe and George Washington.
When it was built, Maury School was considered one of the best examples of Colonial Revival architecture in Fredericksburg. That remains true today.
Despite decades of accumulated mold and mildew, the terra-cotta brick school's interior looks much the way it did when it was open.
Wooden basketball backboards still adorn the gymnasium, and more than 700 chairs are still eerily perched in the auditorium as though awaiting the next class assembly.
"It's as good as it was 70 years ago," Howson said while touring the school yesterday morning. "It was very solidly built."
In 1936, a cafeteria and elementary school were added to the west side of the building. The name was then changed to James Monroe high school and elementary school.
In 1952, it was renamed for Fredericksburg resident Maury.
Years of reuse plans for the building have included a Catholic school, public library, children's museum, apartment complex and homeless shelter--to name just a few.
In later incarnations, the school housed the police academy, and the Kiwanis Club held its amateur hour there, Howson said.
"Wayne Newton performed on that stage," Howson said, pointing into the expansive auditorium.
Restoring the building won't be cheap.
The cost has been estimated at $20 million. Each of the three entities involved probably will contribute to the expense.
The city now has $17 million in its capital improvement budget for the restoration, Howson said, although most of the funding is expected to come from state and federal grants and loans and from private contributions.
The college would lease half of the building used for the presidential center from the city, which owns the former school.
That money would then be used to retire any debt incurred from the restoration project.
"We always planned that the new part of the building would be used to pay for whatever was used in the other half," Howson said.
He stood proudly during the signing ceremony last night as Beck singled him out for recognition.
"I just tried to keep it alive long enough until the right idea and the right [city] council came along." Howson said. "It's hard to believe it's just been sitting here for 23 years, when we could have really been using it."
To reach ELIZABETH PEZZULLO: 540/374-5421 epezzullo@freelancestar.com
