www.roanoke.com

BLACKSBURG -- One community group hasn't given up hope that the old Blacksburg Middle School might become a cultural and civic meeting place, despite efforts by county officials to free the property for sale to a developer.

The Blacksburg Townscape Committee met Wednesday for six hours on the Virginia Tech campus to talk about future uses for the old Blacksburg Middle School.

But the group, which included six licensed architects, went a step farther than talking to draw up professional designs, some with cost analyses, to illustrate their concepts.

The gathering, called a "design charette" by professionals, is a way to guide future development of the old school rather than wait for developers to pitch ideas that may not be best for the surrounding neighborhoods or the town, said Greg Tew, a Virginia Tech architecture professor who attended.

The group included six licensed architects, whose time would be worth about $100 an hour.

One developer, Janaka Casper, president of the nonprofit Community Housing Partners, also participated in the meeting.

The group plans to present the drawings and concepts to town and county officials for consideration.

The four designs include a "multigenerational center" that would combine senior housing, a day care center, underground parking, a vocational center for Montgomery County public school students and a European-style market square with restaurants, cafes and retail.

Other concepts include a traditional housing development, an arts center with a sculpture garden and walking paths and an educational and conference center with some private homes and other amenities.

Three of the designs retain the existing Bruins football stadium, either for public school use or for community league play, and would make use of the old school building.

Recent efforts by the Montgomery County School Board to move the Blacksburg High School football stadium from the old middle school site to 86 acres off Prices Fork Road spurred the group to meet Wednesday, Tew wrote in an e-mail announcing the meeting last week.

The committee has held other such meetings on the future of the old school in years past.

County supervisors and school board members have argued that the school system needs the estimated $4 million to $10 million they hope to get for the old school site, which sits on 20 acres of prime downtown Blacksburg real estate, for school improvements.

Robert Dunay, one of the Tech professors, called that view short-sighted. Done well, redevelopment of the site into a community center could spur economic growth that would create more long-term benefits, he said.

Attendees, including Mandy Tew, pointed out that since the old school closed in 2002, children have been missing from the life of downtown.

Mandy Tew, Greg Tew's wife, said she hopes to see development at the site that would bring children back.

Blacksburg Town Council plans to organize a committee with county officials sometime in the next year to hash out what development could happen at the old school site.

All county and town government officials were invited to Wednesday's meeting. None attended.