The Harford County Board of Education granted its former headquarters a stay of execution at Monday night?s meeting, giving preservationists 30 days to come up with an alternative use for the historic building.
A unanimous vote to delay the board?s decision put off Superintendent Jacqueline Haas? recommendation that the building on the site be razed and the property used as a playground, parking lot and drop-off point for the adjacent Bel Air Elementary School.
“The Board of Education is charged by the state to develop the property to the maximum benefit of its students,” said Board President Ruth R. Rich. “The disposition of this property is a classic example of the clash between the past and the future.”
The building, located at 45 E. Gordon St. and known as the Bel Air Academy, served as an elementary school, high school and office building during its 126-year history. Dozens of advocates for its preservation or redevelopment came to the board?s meeting, which was standing-room only for the first two hours.
“I can still see the teachers, and still hear them, too,” said Capt. Jim McMahon, a Bel Air town commissioner and former student at the school. “We are your students, too ? please help us preserve our school.”
After similar pleas from more than 20 parties, the board voted to give advocates another month to put together a concrete proposal ? asking the Historical Society of Harford County and the Town of Bel Air for a report and a letter from a developer who could preserve the site.
Despite the one-month deadline to accomplish what advocates had not done in the five months since the issue was originally considered, some were hopeful that the time would be productive.
“All of us who have crammed for a test know that when a deadline comes up, that?s when things really happen,” said Board Vice President Mark Wolkow.
When the building served as the board?s headquarters from the 1950s up until last year, decisions made there included the racial integration of Harford County?s schools, said historian Jim Chrismer.
