AMY Wellness will not purchase old school building
Mariel Williams
editor@mitchellnews.com
The AMY [Avery, Mitchell, Yancey] Wellness Foundation confirmed Thursday that it will not follow through with a plan to purchase the old Harris Middle School building in Spruce Pine.
Previously, the Mitchell County Schools Board of Education voted to accept AMY’s bid of $750,000, with the understanding that the building would be remodeled to serve as a community center and nonprofit hub, offering office space to various local organizations.
Executive Director Luke Howe said that the foundation is disappointed to have to withdraw its bid.
“While our vision for the building was inspiring, the scope of the project ultimately exceeded our financial capacity in a way that would have affected our ability to continue meeting the needs of the three counties and the many nonprofits we support,” Howe said.
Howe said that the foundation wants to invest in the local community in the ways that will have the most impact.
“We regret that this opportunity didn’t work out, but we hope that the school system will find other avenues to ensure the property benefits the community in meaningful ways,” he said.
The school board began accepting bids on both the Harris property and the old Deyton Elementary School building in July. According to the official notice seeking bids, the minimum starting price for both properties is $750,000.
The board hosted a public forum on the question of how to dispose of both properties in July, and many attendees at the forum stated that they hoped the Harris building would end up as a community center very similar to what the AMY Wellness Foundation proposed. A number of people at that meeting agreed to keep in touch with each other to try to come up with avenues to make the Harris building useful to the neighborhood around it.