ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, June 13, 1996 TAG: 9606130034
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE
Eight-tenths of an acre.
That's how close the current Blacksburg Middle School site is to meeting a 22-acre state requirement.
Montgomery County school administrators were hoping to build a new, 1,200-pupil middle school on that site. But two weeks ago, school administrators discovered a flaw in the study used to plan school growth for the next 20 years.
The plan, prepared by the Salem architectural and engineering firm Kinsey-Shane & Associates, estimated the middle school sits on about 25 acres. A survey completed this week found the land is 21.2 acres, just under the state requirements.
A committee of Blacksburg residents originally proposed a new school on a 38-acre site. That much available land would inevitably put the school away from the center of town, which other residents opposed.
The committee compromised with a plan to tear down the present facility and build a larger school on the same site.
At a School Board meeting Tuesday, that committee is expected to propose another option for the new school. The committee could recommend the School Board choose its original proposal. Or, it could suggest renovating and expanding the present building, something favored by several Board of Supervisors members - who hold sway over funding for the project.
Another option is to renovate the present building and then build a new 600-pupil school elsewhere. The latter option was originally dismissed by the board for fear of rivalry between two middle schools, and to avoid the perception that only half of town residents were getting a totally new school.
LENGTH: Short : 40 linesby CNB