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BLACKSBURG -- Town officials and some nonprofit and community groups are wondering what will happen now that the Montgomery County School Board, citing budget concerns, voted this week to close the old Blacksburg Middle School by October.

The closure came as a surprise to many, including members of Blacksburg Town Council who had hoped to have more discussions with county officials before making any decisions.

Two music schools, a private Catholic school, contra dance groups, YMCA open university classes and other groups and programs will now have to find new homes. And residents who want the old school to remain a community or arts center are also pondering their next step.

Councilman Paul Lancaster spoke for other council members this week when he said he was disappointed that school officials "did this without giving us a heads-up."

Schools can revitalize communities, Councilman Don Langrehr said. And keeping a school downtown might help some of the town's ailing businesses.

There was apparently no mention of plans to close the school at a June 19 joint meeting among Montgomery County Supervisors, the school board and the council called to discuss a plan to build a new Blacksburg High School stadium at Prices Fork and Merrimac roads.

Blacksburg sports teams still play football and soccer at the old middle school and construction of a new stadium might hasten the sale and development of that site, which is in a commercial district. Council members have said they want more information about the future of the old school before agreeing to a new stadium.

Donna Dunay of the Blacksburg Townscape Committee has worked for years on efforts to save the old school for civic use. She said she hopes the decision to close the school to nonprofit groups -- public school students moved out in 2002 -- "can be reversed ... we intend to keep working on this."

Julia Wharton, director of the St. John Neumann Academy, said the private Catholic school will move its 70 students from the old middle school to a facility in Christiansburg. Other tenants could not immediately be reached Thursday.

But some are glad to see the school board moving to resolve the years-long debate on the old school. Montgomery County Supervisor John Muffo said "it's time ... money that should have been spent on children has been spent on keeping a building."

But Muffo also stressed that supervisors want to work with town council on setting guidelines for any development of the property. The county and the town have talked about creating a joint committee for this purpose.

Blacksburg Mayor Ron Rordam said the closure "highlights the importance of the town and the county to have more of a dialogue."