NEW LIFE FOR OLD SCHOOL | Free News
Former Lamar School will be converted into condos
Plans were revealed for a $14 million restoration project to convert an old school into 58 housing units, but the veil remained on a new company that is planning to locate just west of Laurel.
The old Lamar School at 400 West 15th St. will have 33 senior housing units and 25 family-size condominiums, Laurel Housing Authority Executive Director Ailrick Young told the City Council at its Tuesday meeting.
Tax credits will be pursued to “restore the building to its original exterior style,” Young said. LHA will manage the property and own 50 percent of it with Affordable Housing Developers LLC out of Addison, Texas.
The units will range from 1,200 to 1,650 square feet each and the development will span the block, with additions to south and west sides. Parking will be underneath the units, Young said. A Hispanic church that meets in the auditorium now will be able to continue to have services there during construction, he added.
The Planning Commission approved Young’s request to rezone the property from medium-density to high-density residential, and the council agreed with the recommendation unanimously by a 5-0 vote. Council members Grace Amos and George Carmichael were unable to attend, council President Tony Thaxton announced at the beginning of the meeting.
The planned development is exciting news for the community, city officials said.
“We appreciate you guys ... this is making a difference,” Councilman Jason Capers said.
Young said, “We appreciate the support and the opportunity to provide additional housing.”
Having the old elementary school restored while also adding housing to the city is a win-win, Mayor Johnny Magee agreed.
“That building has been vacant and dilapidated for quite a while,” he said. Senior units will likely house one person while family units will comfortably accommodate a family of three, Young told the Planning Commission. Other locations were researched but did not fit the criteria for tax credits and funding, he said.
Lamar Elementary School opened in 1908 as a two-room building known as Kingston School, and the current school was built in 1913 as a two-story building with an attic, according to the old Laurel Ledger newspaper.
Laurel school officials closed the school in 1995 because of declining enrollment. In another matter, a voluntary annexation of property on Highway 84 West near the Sportsplex was unanimously approved to accommodate a new business that plans to locate there. Jackson lawyer Chad Mask was retained for legal services for the city.
“The company is paying for everything,” Magee said. He declined to identify the business that will be there. When pressed, he said it is something that will make “most people” happy.
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