Conway alumni are trying to save a former elementary school. The city wants more time
Conway residents crowded a meeting room Monday night to hear city council discuss renovating the Whittemore Elementary school publicly for the first time since 2021.
The $16 million proposal, submitted by the Whittemore Racepath Historical Society, would turn the former school’s main building into an African American/Gullah Geechee historical museum, with space for theater, music, and a small business incubator. The 10,000 square-foot gymnasium would be turned into a community center, and a 120-unit apartment complex would be constructed on the site as well.
Whittemore Elementary was built in 1953 as an equalization school to meet the “separate but equal” standards of racial segregation at the time. It was damaged by Hurricane Matthew in 2016, and decommissioned by the Horry County School District that year. The property was then given to the City of Conway under the promise it would be turned into a community center.
According to the city, that promise has not changed. The timing is just off.
‘I can’t do anything without the dirt’
“We’ve been running numbers, I’ve been running numbers for the last eight to nine months. ” Greer said. “We’ve also got what’s called an emergency minority development fund. So the money is there, I don’t worry about the money, I need the land. I can’t do anything without the dirt.”
The developers hope to fund the $16 million project through partnerships with various nonprofits, as well as through a low-income housing tax credit, which will reimburse investors after the housing complex is built and in use.
Adam Emrick, Conway’s city administrator, said that an assessment of the building’s damage needs to be done. The last time the building was assessed was in 2017.
“We can’t give you that property without having a structural engineer look at the building,” Emrick said. “What the worst case scenario would be, is we sign the lease over to you, and on day one your structural engineer says you can’t save this building. And then you’ve just accepted the property with the intent of saving the building without the ability to do so.”
The City of Conway and Whittemore developers need to reach a compromise
No decision was made Monday night since the discussion took place during a workshop. However, the developers and the city have agreed to continue to negotiate the proposal.
One incentive to give the land away would be to have a timeline written in the contract, according to Blain-Bellamy. If a specific amount of progress could be required in a set number of years, the city “very well might be more prone to accept such an idea,” Blain-Bellamy said.
The next step is for the city to assess the damage alongside the nonprofit. Then, a revised proposal could be made and brought before council again at a later meeting.
One council member, Alex Hyman, openly spoke of his approval of the project.
“I can tell y’all put a lot of effort into this. I love the historical aspect. It’s often been said that history doesn’t belong to one person, it belongs to everyone.”
Proposal requests will be accepted through Dec. 31, 2024. The Conway City Council is expected to discuss the proposal again in January.