The old Washington & Lee High School building may no longer serve as a place of education, but it’s quite clear that many in Westmoreland have no intention of letting it slowly fall apart. The building has been put to good use several times in recent years, including as a venue for the Westmoreland Chapter of the Northern Neck Boys & Girls Club and as a dance studio by Hearts In Motion.

One of the main hurdles is the age of the building, which will require a number of substantial improvement projects, from HVAC replacement and rehabbing the roof to security and accessibility upgrades. The interior also needs to be modernized for a number of uses.

The county had already committed half a million dollars toward these efforts. After the events of last week’s Board of Supervisors meeting, it’s possible that the next major chunk of funding might be secured. Dale Hendon from Economic Development brought a resolution before the Board that threw their support behind a request for federal Community Project Funding to the tune of $2 million, which would go toward redeveloping Washington & Lee into the Westmoreland County Community Center.

“In our meeting we discussed with the School Board, we spoke about the $500,000 already committed to the school,” stated Vice Chairman Jeff McCormack. “Is that in addition to this $2 million?”

“This is a community project funding program through Housing & Urban Development’s Economic Development Initiatives program,” replied Hendon. “So we are essentially asking Congress to appropriate funds under HUD’s ADI program. So we will eventually be grant recipients of the ADI program if Congress passes this as presented to them.”

“Can we start the project with the half-million that’s already been appropriated by Westmoreland County before any Congressional funding may or may not come in?” McCormack asked.

According to Hendon, separating things into a phase 1 and phase 2 would go a long way toward making sure that the funds did not overlap.

The Board unanimously approved the resolution, which identified the former Washington & Lee High School as “a significant community asset with historic and civic importance.”