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The Montgomery County School Board voted Tuesday to shutter the old Blacksburg Middle School to help balance its $86.4 million budget for the upcoming year.

The school system will save $80,000 in utilities and upkeep on the 1950s building that was closed as a public school in 2002.

The vote is another step toward possible reuse of the site. Since 2004, town and county officials have considered development proposals, including a retail mall and residential and mixed-use projects for the 20 acres of the downtown commercial district.

School sports teams still use the old school's stadium and playing fields. The school board has requested town council's permission to build a new stadium off Prices Fork Road, but the request has stalled because of questions about the old middle school property's fate.

About 25 community groups still use the building occasionally, while some, such as St. John Neumann Academy and the Performing Arts Institute of Virginia, are located there on a full-time basis. The groups will have until Oct. 31 to find new locations.

Dan Berenato, director of facilities and planning for Montgomery schools, said Tuesday that some groups already had other places to go in mind. He also said groups were welcome to apply to relocate the system's other schools.

Several school board members said they regretted having to close the building, but faced budget pressure.

"Shutting it down will leave a void in the community," said board member Wendell Jones.

Chairwoman Penny Franklin agreed, but noted Blacksburg had more than two years to find funds for upkeep.

The school board and Blacksburg council held a June 19 joint meeting about the school, but town officials voiced surprise at the closure.

"It would have been nice to have a little more confirmed warning. But then again if it's a board decision, you don't know for sure until the board meets," Blacksburg Mayor Ron Rordam said Wednesday.

Staff writer Tonia Moxley contributed to this report.