No developers have stepped up to restore or redevelop a historic school building in Bel Air, even as time runs out for the town to find an alternative to knocking it down.
Two weeks remain for preservationists and town officials to create a plan for the former Bel Air Academy on Gordon Street, which the Harford County Board of Education may demolish to create more parking, playgrounds and road access for the adjacent Bel Air Elementary School.
The board delayed its decision for 30 days at its last meeting, requiring the town to return with a report on the site and an interested developer by June 26 if the building were to remain.
“We?ve gotten a lot of good advice from some people in the know, from some developers who are savvy about [preservation], but nobody?s stepped up to the plate,” said Bel Air Town Administrator Christopher Schlehr.
The Bel Air Academy, built in 1880, has served as an elementary school, high school and offices for the county school system. The board wanted to use the land the building occupies for Bel Air Elementary, but dozens of residents came to a meeting last month to plead for the historic school.
Getting a commitment from a developer to help preserve the school was one of the board?s requirements, said Harford Schools Administration Chief Jay May. While the town and developer don?t have to have an exact plan for the site, there should at least be a commitment to work together, he said.
“They need to be able to figure out what they?ll do with the old administration building,” May said. “We don?t want it to just sit idle.”
So far, the town has come up with three alternatives for giving Bel Air Elementary the extra access requested by the board without using the historic property, Schlehr said. The town has proposed either an access road between Lee and Gordon streets; a turnaround for cars and buses behind the school; or a second drop-off circle, allowing one for cars and another for buses, he said.
