Danville Preservation League

Group trying to save old mill buildings

By SUSAN ELZEY

Register & Bee staff writer

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Although the Schoolfield Preservation Committee was not successful in its efforts to save the Schoolfield Recreation Center from demolition, its members have reorganized to try to save other historic buildings in the community.

“After the loss of the recreation center, several of us got together and felt like we had to do something,” Jim Hyler, chairman of the original group, said Wednesday, “so we formed a new nonprofit corporation called the Schoolfield Preservation Foundation.

“Our mission is to undertake programs to preserve the history of the Schoolfield village and all that goes with that.”

He said the members hope to work with the owners of the Schoolfield Mill buildings to save as many of the buildings as possible.

Old Mississippi Brick & Heart Pine Co. in Crystal Springs, Miss., has been on site deconstructing the Schoolfield Mill buildings.

David Kleier, the real estate and development manager with the company, said the preservationists have spoken with him, but called the process a “work in progress.”

“Yes, we have talked and would like to be sensitive to what the group is trying to accomplish in preserving as much of Schoolfield as possible,” Kleier said. “However, that is predicated upon what makes economic sense to the overall project.”

Old Mississippi Brick is currently working with the Dewberry engineering firm to put together a master plan for what the company is trying to accomplish, Kleier said.

“We have not made any commitment as to what buildings will be saved,” he said.

Hyler said there are several obstacles to the foundation’s mission.

“Funding is a big issue, and we are asking the public and corporations for funding,” he said. “We also need capable personnel who are available to help sustain the operation.”

Hyler said the group is especially looking for younger members since many of the seven founding members are older.

“We want to expand the board to 15, with people who can help us,” he said. “Even at our stage in life, we felt strongly that we had to do something or the Schoolfield way of life will disappear. We don’t want to look back and say, ‘How could we have let that happen?’”

Deconstructing Schoolfield Mill

By SUSAN ELZEY

Register & Bee staff writer

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Watch the video

Schoolfield Mill is being torn down one section at a time in an effort to recycle as many materials as possible. Julian Henderson (Register & Bee)

The recycling of history is occurring daily at the Schoolfield Mill buildings, as workers for Old Mississippi Brick Co. deconstruct the buildings, sending the bricks and heart pine to beautify homes throughout the country.

Dave Kleier, who is in charge of real estate and development, said the Holly Springs, Miss.-based company is trying to respect history, while making way for new development and economic growth.

“We are deconstructing because we have viable markets for the materials, and then the land will be available,” Kleier said Tuesday.

Gibbs International purchased the Schoolfield Mill complex from Dan River Inc. in March 2006.

Kleier said that Gibbs is selling the machinery and looms, but Old Mississippi Brick is reclaiming the other materials in an agreement he was not at liberty to discuss yet.

“We are green-friendly because we take the materials and recycle them and resell a piece of history,” Kleier said. “Along with that, we provide an avenue by keeping some buildings that allow businesses to move in the area.”

He said that between 90 and 95 percent of the materials on the site will be reused or recycled by the first of the year, with only the remaining 5 to 10 percent winding up in a landfill.

Even the granite sills of the mill buildings will be marketed and the broken bricks used for fill in other parts of the site.

Not wasting away

The crews have been working on the No. 4 Mill, which Kleier said is almost completely dismantled. Only about 35 people - a combination of Old Mississippi Brick employees and former Dan River employees - are working on the site.

“Once we get through No. 4, we will go into No. 4 Weave Room,” he said. “Then No. 1 Weave Room behind the office complex will be coming down, but the office complex will stay and be leased out.

“By the first quarter of 2008, the whole southwest corner will be leveled, and that particular property will be put up for sale and will be nice for development.”

Old Mississippi Brick sells bricks that are pulled off historic sites, such as in Danville, and makes handmade brick that is manufactured to look old.

“We also take the flooring and decking of old mills and remanufacture it into tongue and groove heart pine flooring,” Kleier said.

Resawing is actually being done on site on the bottom floor of Mill No. 5.

Kleier said that a lot of the wood was about 100 years old when it was put into the mill, which means the wood is actually 200 years old.

“I think that’s sort of cool,” he said.

Trying to be sensitive

With the future of the site still somewhat uncertain, Kleier said the company also is working on long-range plans with a local engineering firm to develop a master plan for the site that will balance the need for change without eradicating the history of the Schoolfield area.

“We are trying to be sensitive,” he said. “You can’t just let a mill sit; it will fall apart. Because the mill is one of the largest in the country, frankly, it’s an undertaking to look at what to do with it.”

The 90-acre site involves more than 4 million square feet of buildings.

Kleier said he has been impressed with the economic development people in Danville and their pro-active stance. He met with them early on in the project.

“We will be here on site for four to five years,” Kleier said. “Our goal is not to level the buildings, such as the No. 5 Mill. It is all concrete, and there is no inherent value in taking it down.”

The office complex behind No. 1 Mill also will remain standing and be leased out, as well as the Cloth Hall building, which will be kept for redevelopment purposes.

Kleier said no decision has been made yet as to whether the smokestacks will come down.

“Leaving smokestacks up actually helped me sell a site in South Carolina,” he said.

Although there are no plans to sell directly to the community, bricks and heart pine from the Danville mill may be purchased through the company’s office in Mississippi.

“It’s sort of a Pollyanna thinking,” Kleier said. “I have talked to a lot of people and, being an outsider, it was interesting to watch the Schoolfield Recreation Center struggle and the emotions that went along with that and Long Mill, and trying to maintain a balance.

“But practically, you just can’t leave everything, but what you do is balance history, redevelopment and bringing jobs back in to the area.”

For more information on Old Mississippi Brick Co., go to www.oldmississippibrick.com.

City to sell Schoolfield and Westmoreland campuses

By MAC McLEAN

Register & Bee staff writer

Friday, July 20, 2007

The city of Danville plans to sell Schoolfield, above, and Westmoreland school campuses to the highest bidder who has the best plans for revitalizing the structures to fit in with the surrounding areas. Julian Henderson (Register & Bee)

Want to buy a school? The city of Danville has two properties that might be of interest.

City officials issued requests for proposals Wednesday seeking developers to buy and renovate the former Schoolfield and Westmoreland school campuses. Comprising 77,000 square feet of interior space spread out over 13 acres on two separate sites, these schools will be sold to the highest bidder who has the best plan for their use.

“We’re not going to use them,” said David Parrish, a management analyst with the city. “We hope somebody can take the buildings and make something good out of them for the community.”

Parrish said Danville Public Schools was using the space in the schools until it recently decided to consolidate a few of its programs. The school system will turn the properties over to the city government, which will be tasked with finding a new use for them.

Children of Dan River Inc. employees were taught at the Schoolfield School when the three-building complex was built in 1913. It was turned over to Danville Public Schools and then later converted into its central office annex in the mid-1990s.

The school system has consolidated its administrative offices into an old bank building at 341 Main St. This freed up the 35,800-square-foot main Schoolfield School building at 31 Baltimore Ave. and its two annex buildings that each contain 7,000 square feet of space.

The school system also has decided to move its Fresh Start Academy program from the Westmoreland building at 540 Gay St. to the John M. Langston Focus Center campus on Cleveland Street.

This move frees up Westmoreland’s 27,00-squre-foot main building, which dates back to 1926. Head Start will continue to use its part of the three-building campus and is looking to expand into a second building.

Parrish said he envisions apartments as a possible use for both of the schools, since their classroom space is uniform and large enough to house a studio apartment with some renovation work. The schools already come with some amenities. Schoolfield’s second floor contains a full-size auditorium and Westmoreland’s first floor has a basketball court, bleachers and a stage.

Parrish said that whatever becomes of these buildings is up to whomever purchases them. Sealed bids for the properties - along with a 2.25-acre lot at Bethel Street - will be accepted by the city’s purchasing office until 3 p.m. Oct. 19.

Parrish said each bid must contain a plan detailing how the purchaser will contribute to the quality of life and revitalization of the structure’s surrounding area. That plan will be considered as much if not more than the developer’s experience and offered purchase price.

Danville City Council will look over each of these proposed uses at a Nov. 6 work session and hold a public hearing related to the proposals at its Nov. 20 regular meeting. Contracts will be issued for these properties in December.

Not all that foxy

Danville Register and Bee

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Park Avenue isn’t what it used to be. The four-lane road along the west side of Ballou Park used to handle tractor trailers and cars going to and from Dan River Inc.’s massive  Schoolfield mill complex.

Today on the south end of Park Avenue - at the top of the hill - the new CVS drug store is quickly taking shape.

On the north end of Park - at the bottom of the hill - the city is working with VDOT to come up with a more affordable version of the new Robertson Bridge.

In between, a mill salvage company is methodically deconstructing the industrial buildings that once defined Schoolfield.

What will happen in five or 10 years from now if - or more likely when - a developer wants to turn the former Schoolfield mill site into some new kind of development? Assuming that the new Robertson Bridge is built by then - and that could happen - that new development will be seen as an extension of the Piedmont Drive shopping district.

Will the developer of the Schoolfield mill complex wind up saying something like: “This has taken way too long. Life’s too short to haggle with the city of Danville?” Or will that developer get the kind of five-star treatment Coleman Marketplace has received?

Bet on the latter.

Anne Adcock of Foxglove Clothing wanted to move her business to 291 Park Ave., but gave up. She’s the person who complained about her rezoning request taking far too long and saying life was too short to haggle with the city.

The fairness argument says the city should treat a small local shop as well as a mega retailer, but in truth, national chain stores get far more attention and help because of their ability to substantially change the local economy. It’s not that the Foxgloves of the world are unimportant, it’s that the Targets of the world can make a much bigger difference.

But it appears the real issue here is the same one that’s been fought over since 291 Park Ave. was first built. Its  neighbors don’t want anything there -  and this time, it appears the city has allowed that to happen.

Park Avenue isn’t a residential street, it’s a connector road that divides a city park with the shell of a sprawling industrial site. When the mill buildings are ready for redevelopment, Danville will finally drive that point home to the Park Avenue residents who still think they live in a residential neighborhood.

It’s only a matter of time.

Foxglove would have been a good fit for Park Avenue. It would have been a much better neighbor than the mega-development that’s probably coming next.

When that happens, Danville probably won’t treat a mega-development at the Schoolfield mill site the way it treated Foxglove’s proposed move to Park Avenue.

People must take a stand

Danville Register and Bee

Friday, February 16, 2007

To the editor:
As I try to write this letter, so many things are going through my head.

I once left Danville out of frustration with the backward thinking of city hall and the lack of involvement from the people to help form Danville into a more progressive town. I came back because I had been led to believe that Danville was moving forward.

Danville is at a crossroads now.  With the years of promises on the Long Mill project, the upheaval over losing the Schoolfield Recreation Center, the controversy with the hospital and I am sure many other issues that directly affect the citizens that call Danville home, it has become abundantly clear that the citizens of Danville need to get very proactive.

My first reaction to most of the issues is to blame city hall for the losses and the troubles, but in reality, the citizens are to blame. Think about it - if enough people from all areas of town had made a stand on the Schoolfield issue, they could have stopped the recreation center’s demolition.

If the citizens from all areas of town would get involved and show the hospital what they thought, I bet something would be done pronto - not whenever they get around to it.

How about the support for what is going on downtown? We first think it will take people from out of town to get involved, not the citizens already here because the citizens of Danville don’t care. I know that my main references point are activities in the historic district and that is because that is where I live, but even if I didn’t, they are very important to the economy of this town and its future.
What kind of quality of life do you want here?

Do you not realize that the power of this town is in the hands of you the people? Danville City Council was elected by you, the people, but you the people are not making it work for you. In my opinion, Danville City Council works for the city manager - a position that is not elected by the people.
The No. 1 complaint that has been around for the last 30 years is that city hall is not doing anything that the people want because the citizens don’t take an active role showing city hall what they want and how they want it.

Talk is cheap. If you, as citizens, don’t take an active role now, Danville will become what city hall wants, not what you want.

PAM GRAY
Danville

Schoolfield Recreation Center demolition begins

Building comes down as many remember its past

By JONNELLE DAVIS

Register & Bee staff writer

Thursday, February 1, 2007

The day that area historic preservationists feared and fought against for months   arrived on Thursday. n the midst of the day’s precipitation, a crew began demolishing the Schoolfield Recreation Center. The demolition began at daybreak and is expected to be completed today, according to an unidentified worker at the scene.

Doris Handy, a founding member of the Schoolfield Preservation Committee, said on Thursday that she had accepted that a part of her history - as well as the history of many others in the River City - would soon be gone. “I don’t like it, and I’m sorry it happened. And Schoolfield won’t ever be the same,” said Handy, adding that there are a lot of people who feel the same way.

A man who identified himself as the foreman at the Schoolfield site Thursday afternoon said he could not comment on the demolition process. A call to project site manager Carl Sartoris was not returned. CVS has moved forward with its plans to erect a new pharmacy on the site after a deal to purchase plots of land across the street from the recreation center fell through.

In a final act of protest, those who wanted to see the building saved stood outside it Saturday holding signs as a construction crew tore off the building’s slate tiles and tossed them to the ground.

Sarah Latham was unsure whether she had the heart to drive by the site as it was being demolished. She and her husband, Dan, were both on the preservation committee. Latham said they were lured to Danville by its historic architecture, and called the recreation center one of the most “elegant” structures in Danville. "I think it’s a real tragic loss for the whole city,” she said.

We're at the crossroads of decision

Danville Register and Bee

Sunday, January 21, 2007

By JIM HYLER

In the editorial, “Last days,” (Jan. 12, page A10) addressing the demise of the Schoolfield Recreation Center, the commentary not only reflected on what we - the Schoolfield Preservation Committee - did over a 10-month period in an attempt to save the Schoolfield Recreation Center, but what our lack of success portends for the remaining structures in the Schoolfield mill village that are so much a part of our heritage and culture. That same level of concern was also directed to similar structures in the downtown area that so vividly connects our past to the future.

The final statement in the editorial was right on target and particularly prophetic. Preserving Danville’s history requires, “the kind of passionate support the Schoolfield Recreation Center issue received.”
No further utterance could be more true.

More than a building

If the Schoolfield Preservation Committee did so much to preserve the recreation center from demolition, it’s fair to ask what went wrong. But before this question is addressed, it’s important to understand why we were so passionate about saving that structure.

When the Schoolfield Division of Dan River Mills was built in 1904, it was organized with a paternalistic structure. Not only did the company provide a place to work, but churches, schools, a fire station, clinic, minor shopping access and the YMCA in 1915 - later to become the Schoolfield Recreation Center. Since its inception, this institution served as the social focal point and second home for five generations of mill employees and their families.

The recreation center was the supporter and provider of many Schoolfield High School and community-related activities. Its personnel and programs gave guidance to generations of young people and saved many of us from otherwise undesirable fates. We - in different ways - were instilled with fundamental values like responsibility, accountability, honor, pride, integrity and discipline. In many ways, those experiences define what those of us who had that experience are today.

To watch this part of our heritage and culture be destroyed would be a travesty. To do nothing would have been unforgivable.

Therein lies the passion - and thus the motivation - for the Schoolfield Preservation Committee to save the recreation center from demolition.

I’m not entirely sure the recreation center should have ever been placed on the selling block. Knowing the historical and cultural value of that building and everything it represented for the people of the Schoolfield mill village, it seems to me Dan River Inc. officials should have exhibited a greater expression of social consciousness in making the decision to sell. Was there, for example, an opportunity for the city or other groups interested in buying, using or retrofitting the building offered the opportunity to secure it? I don’t know the answer. It is the preponderance of opinion that the last owners of Dan River wanted to unload the mill, get their money and “get the hell out of Dodge.” That may or may not be factual.

Finding some fault

Second, it is fair to ask if I, as the chairman of the Schoolfield Preservation Committee, adequately organized, planned and directed that group’s activities to accomplish the desired goal? Others will make a judgment on that question. What I do know is that we were at least six months - maybe even a year - late getting organized and working on the question. In March 2006, Dot Handy, the president of the Schoolfield Reunion Committee, asked me to organize a group for the purpose of convincing CVS to seek other locations for its store.

Initially, we couldn’t determine if a contract between Dan River Inc. and CVS even existed. Both companies’ personnel that we contacted stonewalled us - they would not discuss the matter. It wasn’t until a meeting with City Manager Jerry Gwaltney that we got the answer - there was a contract for the building’s sale, but it had not yet been closed.

This is where we found an opening. Many activities followed, including  face-to-face meetings with U.S. Rep. Virgil Goode, letters to Sens. George Allen and John Warner, and contacts with state historical staffs, CVS officials, preservation groups in North Carolina, Danville’s city fathers - including members of Danville City Council - and the collection of some 2,000 petition signatures, among many other activities. After most of March and April of last year, we finally concluded that the federal government will do nothing until the state agencies take appropriate action, and the state would take no action until the local government took a position and supported requested programs. That became a major issue for the outcome of our effort to save the recreation center. Ultimately, the city government serves the needs and desires of the people. In the end, it is the will of the people that drives efforts to preserve historical structures that brings together the best of the past to connect to the future.

Third, CVS is the fall guy in this whole episode, as some of the letters to the editor and a few overzealous activists have suggested. Folks who make those assumptions simply have not been close enough to the situation to know the facts. Now let me make it clear - CVS owes me nothing and I owe CVS nothing.

To begin with, CVS - like any other business - wanted to erect another store in Danville. The recreation center building was for sale. The property location was considered to be the best possible spot for its business needs, among several they looked at in that part of town. They didn’t have - nor should they have had -  any knowledge of cultural sensitivities of that community. So they bought the property.

Approaching the crossroads

Through our actions, we were able to convince CVS to exercise other options available to them to place their store. Believe me, that was no easy task! From that point, continuous negotiations between CVS and property owners ensued. In several of them, I served as a mediator between CVS and the property owners. As has already been reported, the failure to reach an agreement on one of them prevented CVS from acquiring the property needed to build this new store.

The efforts of the Schoolfield Preservation Committee to save the recreation center obviously failed. We fought the good fight, stayed the course and kept the faith, but to no avail. I feel, however, we did do everything humanly possible with no experience in such matters and with meager support from the general public to save that building.

The crossroads of decision I spoke of at my opening is now upon the Schoolfield Preservation Committee. It’s decision time as to whether we can continue our efforts to preserve other significant structures in the Schoolfield area. Since we no longer have the recreation center, a museum with artifacts representing both Dan River Inc. and the Schoolfield mill village is under consideration.

The reality is that our committee consists of eight people, the majority of whom are in their mid-70s or older. What will we do? I don’t know. I do believe we can’t continue to pursue this cause with the fervor we displayed in our effort to save the recreation center. We are trying desperately to find younger, dedicated people to assume the mantel of leadership for this important effort to preserve some part of our heritage.

As I understand it, the Danville Historical Society was formed to do exactly what our committee did in Schoolfield, but to include the entire city. It is further my understanding that it has been deemed completely ineffective for perhaps a number of reasons - the most significant of which is the fact that it has no leadership, no permanently paid cadre to provide some direction and meaning to these efforts, as well as provide an umbrella for a number of preservation-related projects for the entire city.

Money could be raised to pay a bright, knowledgeable and focused person to lead that group. On that board should be a group of young professionals - including lawyers and businessmen - who are focused, dedicated and willing to give of themselves to help preserve our heritage and culture for future generations before it’s all destroyed. I had hoped - and still do - that this group could become fully functional and assume the responsibility from the point where the Schoolfield Preservation Committee left off.

In addition to a fully functional and active historical society, this effort requires the involvement of at least two organs of the citizens of Danville - the full involvement, encouragement and support of the city fathers and the essential support of the Danville Register & Bee.

This is no time for naysayers or overzealous preservation activists who would attempt to use intimidation and threats to accomplish desired goals. That approach never works. There must be a thoughtful coordination of organizing, planning and execution in order to attain reasonable goals. No group can be expected to preserve every desired structure in the city. It must pick its fights, so to speak, and focus on realizing success of stated objectives.

Finally, I would say to the young professionals of Danville who believe in the preservation of your heritage and culture for future generations to appreciate, step up and give of yourself for the good of the community.

The charge is urgent and the hour is late! You, too, are at the crossroads of a decision!

Hyler is chairman of the Schoolfield Preservation Committee.

'Save Schoolfield' story makes magazine debut

By SUSAN ELZEY

Register & Bee staff writer

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

DANVILLE - The effort to save the Schoolfield Recreation Center from demolition has caught the attention of a magazine devoted to telling the stories of cotton mill people of the South.

“The Bobbin and Shuttle” has published its third edition, featuring an article, “Saving Schoolfield,” which highlights the creation of the Schoolfield Preservation Committee and its efforts to save the center from being torn down to make way for a CVS Pharmacy.

The magazine is published by the Textile Heritage Center in Cooleemee, N.C.

“The newest edition features the struggle of Schoolfield to save its old recreation center,” a museum press release said. “Native sons and daughters, like Dot Handy and Jim “Bo” Hyler, have closed the ranks with their old friends, neighbors and schoolmates to save a beloved building from the wrecking ball. They want to see a textile heritage museum there someday, one dedicated to telling the story of the people who worked at Dan River Mills and grew up in Schoolfield.”

Lynn Rumley, editor of “The Bobbin and Shuttle,” said, “I just want to let Danville readers know about how important we view the situation.”

Her husband, Jim Rumley, is the coordinator of the Southside Textile Heritage Initiative and spoke at a rally that the Schoolfield Preservation Committee held on May 27.

The article recounts how Dot Handy of the Schoolfield High School Reunion Committee found out about the plans to demolish the recreation center and contacted Jim Hyler, who now resides in Lynchburg and also is a member of the reunion committee. Together, with others interested in the Schoolfield project, they formed the Schoolfield Preservation Committee.

Also in the article is the story of the petition drive, the presentation of the petitions to Danville City Council and the May rally.

“We appreciate a great deal Jim and Lynn Rumley’s involvement in the effort to save the Schoolfield Recreation Center,” Hyler, preservation committee chairman, said on Monday.

“I have tried to keep them abreast of what is going on in his world of trying to save these old historic mill structures. We are grateful for his interest.

“The magazine has a fairly widespread distribution. They have been there for us, and we have called them for advice and counsel on different approaches. We are very grateful for that. They gave us a good shot.”

“This is more of a keepsake book than a monthly magazine,” said Lynn Rumley in a press release. “There are stories from mill towns and mill hills across the South that together paint the portrait of a people with character and dignity. They didn’t have much cash money, but they were rich in so many other ways.”

“Bobbin and Shuttle” is available at News N’ Novels on Riverside Drive. All three issues of the magazine can be ordered before Christmas for a special price of $8, plus $2 shipping and handling, by writing Textile Heritage Center, P.O. Box 667, Cooleemee, NC 27014. The magazine also can be ordered by visiting  www.TextileHeritage.org, or calling (336) 284-6040.

The Southside Textile Heritage Initiative also is interested in people who have mill village stories to tell. People ages 75 and older may order, fill out and return a “Mill Family Life Survey” to leave a record of their memories in the center’s archives.

A copy will be made for any future Schoolfield museum.