As Chestertown, and now Washington College, wrestles with the future of an abandoned National Guard armory, it should be encouraging to witness the remarkable transformation of Centreville’s National Guard Armory — just a few blocks from the County Courthouse on Commerce Street. After almost 30 years, the building will begin a new life when the Wye River Upper School completes renovation and moves in twelve months from now for the 2012 – 2013 school year.
Wye River, which now holds classes at Chesapeake College, is a unique private day school serving college-bound students with small class sizes and intense individual instruction. The school found Centreville an ideal location to support Kent, Queen Anne’s, and Talbot Counties. After years of debating the pros and cons of building an entirely new structure, the Board of Directors found a new option in rescuing the Centreville Armory.
School Director Chrissy Aull expects the entire project will cost $4.25 million, with $1.5 million in gifts secured to date. At a gathering of students, teachers and parents to discuss the plans for the new building, Aull highlighted the fact that over $500,000 of the balance due might be coming the Maryland Historical Trust’s Sustainable Communities program, as a result of their commitment to save the old armory.
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With the help of architect and Wye River School parent, Peter Winebrenner, of Hord Coplan Macht of Baltimore, as well as Centreville’s Torchio Architects, the old armory is being transformed to serve 100 students and staff. The renovation will provide classroom space, a school auditorium/gym, lounges, and individual study areas at the 22,000 square Armory.
Interestingly, you won’t find a traditional library or school cafeteria in the new plans. Once again, breaking new ground, the cchool is eager to have their students use Centreville’s restaurants, many of whom are just a few blocks away, and the highly regarded Queen Anne’s County public library across the street. Rather than walling off students from the outside world, school leaders want daily interaction with the town.
Winebrenner feels this is the right move for the school.
“Just as the community happily makes use of the school’s spaces for various functions – sports fields, gyms, auditoria – so too can the school use community resources for their students – libraries, museums, food establishments, etc. In the end, the WRUS approach is to make use of the resources of the surrounding community, including human resources – as teaching and learning opportunities for the students as they are prepared college and career.”
Winebrenner also finds the project to be one of his most rewarding and challenging.
“Often these projects are more difficult than a new facility, since you are dealing with an old structure with likely hidden issues that may not be revealed until well into construction. Balancing the need to respect and maintain the historic character with the need to design a safe, energy-efficient, affordable, technology-rich educational environment will be the biggest challenge.”
James Herron says
Great idea! Great plan! Great space! Keep up the good work!