Jefferson renovations to begin in summer

Those involved with the renovation of Charlottesville’s Jefferson School say construction should start this summer and the building should be ready for occupancy in 2012.

Talks to restore the school on the edge of Vinegar Hill have gone on for years, and plans are moving ahead to turn the building into a community gathering place that will preserve the school’s history and provide a range of services for area residents.

“Is it moving along? Absolutely,” said Martin Burks, president of the Jefferson School Community Partnership, which is overseeing the redevelopment that will turn the building into the Jefferson School City Center.

The Jefferson School, for many, serves as a poignant reminder of a time when racial segregation was the norm in Charlottesville. The school was built in 1926, adjacent to the old Jefferson Graded Elementary School that was constructed in 1894. The newer building functioned as an all-black high school until 1951, when it was converted into an elementary.

Thirteen years later it was closed, and then was primarily used as classroom and office space as well as housing preschool and Piedmont Virginia Community College programs. The school shuttered its doors for good in 2002.

Post-refurbishment, the building’s two definite tenants will be the African American Heritage Center, which will measure more than 9,000 square feet, and an expanded, 20,949-square-foot Carver Recre-ation Center. The heritage center will offer programs and present a history of the school and its alumni.

According to lease information compiled by Stonehaus — a local private developer that is working with the partnership — 26,089 square feet are available to be rented. Calls to project manager Jennifer Arrington were not returned Tuesday.

Tenants would pay an estimated $13 per square foot in monthly rent, plus another $6 per square foot for utilities and other fees, and would be required to sign a lease for at least three years.

“What we are looking for are nonprofits,” Burks said. He added that they would like to see nonprofits that are educational in nature come to the Jefferson School, but he said he does not think it would be possible to have only nonprofits as tenants.

“Sure, we’ll have some for-profit business in there,” he said.

The project, which Burks said will cost $16 million, will also add a two-level parking deck with 108 spaces, bumping the site’s total to 149.

The city owns the building and is expected to convey the property to the partnership by the end of the year.

The city also is expected to contribute $5.7 million, and the rest of the funding would come from tax credits and private donations.

“I think we’re going to be able to pull it off,” said Julian Taliaferro, city councilor, of the entire undertaking.