STATE DENIES TAX CREDITS FOR OLD SCHOOL
Conversion of Auditorium to Apartments Violates Guidelines
First page of letter from Department of Historic Resources to Town of Cape Charles. CLICK TO READ FULL-SIZE.
By GEORGE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave
November 29, 2012
The Virginia Department of Historic Resources has rejected an application by the Town of Cape Charles for tax credits in association with conversion of the old school at Central Park into a 17-unit apartment building.
The Town has signed a contract to convey the school and adjoining parkland to developer Echelon Resources, Inc. The contract specifies that Echelon will pay the Town $10 for the school and parkland, and the Town will pay Echelon $41,000 toward repairs to the school.
However, Echelon has made clear from the beginning that it will not close on the deal unless state and federal authorities approve the request for tax credits.
Echelon hoped to receive 25 percent credit from Virginia plus 20 percent credit from Washington, for a total of 45 percent of the total cost to convert the building to apartments.
The application for tax credits was signed by Town Manager Heather Arcos because the Town remains the owner of the property. The application was prepared by Echelon consultant Paige Pollard.
The November 21 letter to Arcos (shown above) rejects the application for three reasons:
CONTINUED FROM FIRST PAGE
Exterior Alterations: Echelon proposed to replace existing aluminum frame windows with new windows which would match the few existing historic windows. However, the “historic” style windows are not known to be what was used when the building received a facelift of Permastone. Changes that create a false sense of historical development, such as adding conjectural features or architectural elements from other buildings, shall not be undertaken, the Department’s guidelines state.
Auditorium Infill: Echelon intended to convert the school auditorium into a “family unit” apartment, and convert the adjoining stage into a separate small 2-floor apartment. But Historical Architect Suzanne Tripp ruled that . . . the auditorium is one of the school’s few remaining original features and it should remain as an open volume. The plans and interior elevation drawings indicate that the proposed living units will span the width of this space and therefore erase the historically open nature of this room.
Significant Changes: Echelon proposed to close off all the original entries to the former auditorium. They would also remove nearly all of the interior walls in the school. And thirdly, they planned new walls not in keeping with the “open, simple organization of the former classrooms,” Tripp wrote.
The Wave attempted to contact Echelon partners Edwin Gaskin and J. David McCormack, but calls left on their answering machines had not been returned by press time.
The letter from historical architect Tripp concludes by offering to cooperate in developing “a more sensitive design.” The letter suggests that any acceptable design would have to maintain the existing classroom and auditorium spaces.
In an email from Town Manager Arcos to developer Gaskin last March following a public meeting about plans for the school, Arcos wrote: Don’t know about you Bob [Assistant Town Manager Bob Panek], but the clear majority [at the public meeting] wants to see a restoration and the gym as public space.
In response, Gaskin wrote:
I understand the community instinct to want to see the gym as public space. If that’s what Town Council wants, I am sure we can work something out. As you know such a community desire is often divorced from an understanding of the costs involved of fulfilling that desire. Ironically I’ve seen folks in other communities clamor for similar things, only to turn on the public officials that approved their desire later when the costs came due! Ahhh, the fickle nature of the public’s devotion!
On March 28, Gaskin dropped a bomb: If the Town really wanted to keep the gym/auditorium as “public space,” the Town could rent the space from Echelon for $7,125 a month, or $85,500 a year — plus utilities.
There was little to no further discussion about keeping any space public in the building.
The rejection letter from the Department of Historic Resources notes that the application has also been forwarded to the National Park Service in Washington. The Virginia office’s response dealt largely with architectural elements, whereas the National Park Service is expected to also consider the proposed conversion of the Town’s only basketball court to a private parking lot, as well as the removal of the parking lot for the children’s playground at the park.
This news feels like a victory for the Old School Cape Charles group. The Department of Historic Resources has spoken and it says NO TAX CREDITS FOR YOU ! As our little group investigated and found the rules for tax credit renovations we learned many things. We learned the taking away public space was not going to work for Mr. Gaskin.
I just hope that now the town will do the right thing and go forward with a community center. Done properly it could serve many needs for all of the citizens of this town.
Please put an end to the bitterness Mayor Sullivan & council.
Wouldn’t it have been better for the Town Council to wait and see if the Tax Credits were forthcoming before getting into such a questionable deal? Rushing into something that seems too good to be true often results in failure. The Town Council should learn from this experience. In the future, decisions on the sale or purchase of major assets should be put to a referendum. Let the people decide and save yourselves and the citizens all the bad karma that this deal has caused.
I note that THIS plan was rejected, but the project may not be dead in the water. This may be the first round. Echelon may wish to explore further options to obtain the needed tax credits.
What does bother me is the fact the town is bending over backwords to make this deal, and Echelon has the GALL to inform the town they want $85,500 a year rent, for the gym, if the town wishes to use it. This is disgraceful How many ways must the town be burned? If anything, this clearly depicts Echelon as a money grubbing ogre, again at the town’s expense. Can’t the town council see this as cause to terminate this bad deal, and instead put the property up for bid, and see who is interested? In my mind, this should have been the correct first action by the town council, and perhaps much of the past rancor may have been averted.
Hmmmm, move town hall functions, library and Fire Station over to the School, and transfer/sell/lease the Fire Station to the developer for use.
Now, you’ve increased the ‘disposable income’ visitors access to the main shopping district, and have coordinated all Muni functions into one spot.
Any development that requires Tax Abatement to be economically feasible is NOT economically feasible.
I have not seen the Old School Cape Charles ideas for the school in print.
Kathy, To my knowledge the only people that ever saw Echelon’s plans had to get them by FOIA request. They are really forthcoming guys. I asked them where there were other buildings that they had done and they would never answer. These guys are players and the town of Cape Charles took the hook and swallowed it. For that matter the town needs to make it a community center — not OSCC. The town throws money @ the library, the arts enter, the firemen, the youth garden and countless other groups. Maybe they should step up and do something for all of the citizens. In this season of peace I am not going to get into an argument with you Kathy.
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year
As a member of Old School Cape Charles, I think it would be wrong for the town to sell the school building to anyone. It is town property and should stay town property. Our group is willing to do a public-private partnership with the town. We could apply for grants and tax credits, and we could do fund raising. Everybody in the town should be able to help decide how to use the old school. Anyone who doesn’t want to use the school doesn’t have to. And using the old school doesn’t hurt the museum, Arts Enter, or the library. Everything has its own purpose.Cape Charles needs more things for kids to do. There could be a room of clubs and a room for nature classes and other kinds of classes. And there would be an auditorium space big enough for public meetings without having to use the fire station. There could also be town offices in the school, and you wouldn’t have to climb all those stairs. The town hall is really unfriendly to handicapped and elderly people. The Rosenwald school used to be owned by the town, and then they sold it. Now people are saying we should buy it back, but it costs a lot of money. And yet the town wants to sell the park school for $10.
I think Kathy makes a good point. Old School Cape Charles should put its plan in the Wave so all can see. So should other interested parties. I would like to see competing plans measured against each other so that we can determine which plans offer what services, and how much each plan costs.
I echo the comments here requesting that Old School Cape Charles share their proposed plans for the school. As a homeowner with small children (full disclosure, I’m a ‘come here), I like the concept of a community center, but I struggle to see how using this large of a space that would require such significant repair is a financially viable option for the town. There are much smaller spaces within town that could certainly meet the need and would cost significantly less to renovate and maintain. I’ve been watching this issue unfold from the sidelines over the past year and I see points on both sides of the debate. If I saw a plan that was financially feasible to use this space as a community center I could get on board. I think this issue has appropriately reminded our civic leaders that our residents are watching and that we all want increased transparency into government. With that said, we need practical, financially sustainable solutions for the town. Vacant, deteriorating buildings aren’t doing any of us any good.
Mr. Blanchard makes an excellent point. A little transparency goes a long way to keep harmony in our community. Hopefully, the Town Council is listening even though they are mostly silent.
The comments of Ms. Bonadeo and others again leave us bewildered and disappointed. Over the last several months, OSCC has written over 20 articles and letters to both the Wave and Eastern Shore News, as well speaking at public comment during town meetings since February. Our website at http://www.oldschoolcapecharles.org/ has been on line since the summer. Here are our Vision and Mission statements:
Vision
As the heart of our diverse community, the Historic Cape Charles High School will be: A Community Center as a gathering place for education, recreation, cultural, and community activities would enhance the quality of life for Cape Charles residents, residents of the Eastern Shore, and visitors.
Mission
Through public and private funding, Old School Cape Charles (OSCC) promotes and supports the use of the local 100-year-old Historic Cape Charles High School. We are a nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening the economic and cultural vitality of its diverse community through the renewal of the Historic School and campus.
Values
We will be responsible stewards. We will learn from our community, past and present. We will confront important issues with humility and open minds. We will embrace the gains attained from the diversity of people and perspectives. We believe lifelong learning is essential in a constantly changing world. Our Commitment is to equitable treatment and elimination of discrimination in all its forms.
We have been very open to anyone that is interested in our plans for the school. Our events such as the Crab Feast and Oyster Roast had reams of documentation. If all this still isn’t enough, come over to my house, I’ll make a pot a coffee, and we’ll sit in my kitchen and talk about every detail and concern. We are also willing to listen to your ideas. I learned a long time ago that I don’t have all the answers, and just as Socrates taught Plato, it is generally through dialog that the best answers are found.
The reason folks don’t know about our plans is because they’ve never bothered to find out. The Town has never sat down with us, and have repeatadly ignored our calls to workshop the school issue. Instead, the only workshop they’ve had recently was about trying to find ways to shut us up. The problem is that OSCC has been treated as second class citizens from the very beginning; we are constantly overlooked and ignored by the town of Cape Charles. Where other community groups such as the Historical Society, New Roots, Citizens for Central Park, and the Library Board have a warm seat at the table, OSCC has been shunned.
Instead of wringing your hands over what OSCC might do with the school, proper concerns should be over just why our Town staff is using our tax dollars (their time) applying for tax credits for the developer. They are not required to do so, and in actuality, this is really the Developer’s job. Instead of questioning our plan (you know, up to 6 years ago, the school was open and being used as a community center, so this idea is not new), I would question why the town plans to create a scenario where 94 people could be moved into that building. Even if only 2/3 of that number moved in, that is a serious density issue; where are all those people going to park? What if they own two cars, a truck and a boat? It seems like issues like density, corrupt sweetheart deals, grotesque giveaways would be the real concern, not whether there will be a basketball game or street hockey in the gym, or whether the Christian school or community college will have classroom space to expand.
This is not brain surgery; it’s not hard to do. I would recommend you read the cover story of the Eastern Shore News, and see how Onancock does it. Or go to Belle Haven and take in the Nutcracker at ESO. The Town of Cape Charles just needs to man up and maintain the historic structure as it is required to do by law. We just spent $349,000.00 on a bath house at the harbor, we spend $28,000.00 a year to cut the grass in the park, and will spend close to or over $300,000.00 getting the new library up to speed in the Bank of America building, so if you’re telling me we don’t have the resources to maintain our only indoor gymnasium, and a set of classrooms, I don’t buy it. Besides, we’re already paying for it. Shouldn’t Public Works be able to help out with the maintenance of our 100 year old historic school? Why do we have a Planner and Assistant Town Manager? If they are billing their hours to the town, their efforts should be directed towards the people, not out of town developers. Instead, shouldn’t they be working alongside OSCC in a public/private partnership to do something meaningful?
As we ready for the Grand Illumination, and the Holiday season is upon us, it is my hope for the New Year that we can all work together and build on the Town’s successes to develop a public use for our beloved school that we can all be proud of and epitomizes that Cape Charles is a truly wonderful town in which to live.
Wayne, a wealth of information presented in a concise, courteous manner. I commend you on your sense of propriety, decorum and community.
Really folks, from an economic perspective, a combined Muni facility and Community center is the only way to go. “Downtown” should be a DOWNTOWN, not a mixed Government/Commercial district.
A good day, better weekend and a Merry Christmas to all!!
The Town received a follow-on letter, dated 29 Nov, from the VA Department of Historic Resources, continuing the discussion of Echelon’s proposed alterations to the old high school.
Since it is much more positive than the 21 Nov letter published by the Wave, I doubt we will be seeing it printed here.
The letter is available on the Town website, in the 07 Dec edition of the Gazette, Town Council Agenda, part 2.
You must scroll very far down the document to find the letter.
http://www.capecharles.org/documents/20121213TCAgendaPacketPart2.pdf