Former Madison Heights school could see new life

By Justin Faulconer

Published: August 27, 2008

A California man who has purchased several historic buildings in Lynchburg now is interested in reviving a former school building in Madison Heights.

Dennis Gibbs and his wife, Laurie, own the old Jones Memorial Library building and the Villa Maria estate, both on Rivermont Avenue in Lynchburg, as well as the former Adams Motor Co. on Fifth Street and other property in and near the downtown area.

The couple, who split their time between Central Virginia and California, also own Dulwich Manor Bed & Breakfast Inn in Amherst.

Now Dennis Gibbs is interested in reviving a former elementary and high school that has been vacant on Phelps Road in Madison Heights for the past two decades.

The Amherst County Board of Supervisors, the owner of the building, has signaled its intent to give the building to Gibbs, after voting Aug. 19 to enter into an agreement outlining the mutual obligations within a deal.

Gibbs, a Philadelphia native, described himself Wednesday as a “preservationist” who drove by the school building recently and saw potential. He said he hasn’t come to a final decision if he would renovate or not, but should know soon.

“I don’t go into these things with a particular idea,” he said. “I go in to save the building.”

The building’s core served as an elementary school, said Amherst County Administrator Rodney Taylor, and the board prohibits demolition, though portions added later to the building could be torn down after appraisal.

The county had considered demolishing the entire building, he said, but citizens’ concerns and failed proposals, including housing for senior citizens and a community center, have kept the building intact.

“We have received three or four valuable offers, none of which panned out,” Taylor said. “The board thought it was important that (whomever) took control of the property had the ability to renovate it without putting tax dollars to it.”

Gibbs said he contacted the county about his interest in the building because he didn’t want to see it torn down, and felt he could serve as a bridge to some future use.

“That’s not the county’s role — they’re not developers,” Gibbs said.

Gibbs wrote to Taylor that if limited demolition were required, he would ask the county for financial assistance.

“I would appreciate the county’s assistance in my acquiring loans, if necessary, from financial institutions” for repairs and demolition, Gibbs wrote in a May 3 e-mail to Taylor. Gibbs also wrote that he was willing to negotiate parking and office space for the sheriff’s office, which Taylor said could give deputies “more of a presence” in that area of Madison Heights.

Taylor said the board’s procedure with such requests for financial assistance would be to review them on a “case by case” basis.

Ownership of the building would revert to the county should the renovation not take place, the agreement states. No money would be exchanged in the transfer of ownership, Taylor and Gibbs each said.