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The Montgomery County School Board suffered a setback this week in finding a use for the old Blacksburg Middle School after the town backed out of operating it as a community resource center.

The town wasn't able to attract enough community groups to lease space and cover operational costs and is unwilling to subsidize costs.

"They saw the price, then they had the choice," Dean Crane, the town's director of parks and recreation, said about prospective renters during Blacksburg Town Council's work session Tuesday.

The town determined that the building's operational costs are $214,000 a year, necessitating the lease of 26,000 square feet at $8.31 per square foot per year, Dan Berenato, director of school facilities and planning, told the school board Tuesday night.

The town found only 11 groups willing to commit to a total of 14,000 square feet, although one of them, New River Community College, was willing to spend $30,000 for six rooms, Crane said. The town would lose about $91,000 a year, according to town manager Gary Huff.

"This clearly is not within our capabilities," Councilman Tom Sherman said. Town officials want to continue to help the schools find a civic purpose for the old Blacksburg school. "If we can figure out a way to make it work, we'll be first in line," Sherman said.

At the school board meeting, board member Mary Hayne North said that she was disappointed with the news andasked if the town had publicized the rental space to a broad audience. Superintendent Fred Morton said that the town had done so and had hosted meetings with a wide swath of people, but that several interested parties couldn't pay the rent.

Board member Rick Johnson asked about the status of a group wanting to house an independent Catholic academy at the building, after St. Mary's Catholic School decided to close its K-5 program.

That group was seeking a year-long lease, but Berenato told them that the school system could only offer a month-to-month lease. The group is considering an alternative location but plans to open this fall, school director Julia Wharton said this week.

"We're thrilled to know that space is available for our school even if it is month to month," she said. Wharton said that her school's plans should be finalized by Sunday.

Morton told the school board that the town's decision "puts things back on the drawing board."

The Blacksburg Middle School property has been appraised at $6.8 million, and some county supervisors have pushed the school board to consider selling the property.

Morton proposed that the school division continue leasing out space at the old Blacksburg school on a short-term basis and that he and Berenato develop a plan for determining the building's fate, so the board could make a decision in the next few months. The board agreed.

Board Chairman Wat Hopkins said that when the board runs out of alternatives and is forced to sell the building, "that's when there's gonna be an uproar."