CHCCS send petition for renovations to Lincoln Center Campus

The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education proposed a plan to fit 300 students into a school that closed operations 49 years ago.  

CHCCS sent a petition to the Chapel Hill Town Council Monday, requesting an expedited review of their plan for the Lincoln Center Campus. 

Lincoln High School, now known as the Lincoln Center Campus, served as the black high school for the Chapel Hill and Carrboro communities in the 1950s. The high school closed after just 15 years in 1966, shortly after desegregation, to merge with Chapel Hill High School.

Since its closing, the former high school has served as the CHCCS Central Office and home to Phoenix Academy. Last year, however, the town thought of a new way to utilize the space. 

According to Monday’s petition, the proposed project would provide room for approximately 125 more students. Additionally, the project provides space for 189 additional elementary school students, including a centralized pre-kindergarten.

Proponents of the plan say this will eliminate the need to build more schools.

Although the town council has not responded to the petition, the board claims the surrounding community is hopeful the petition will pass. 

“The school definitely needs a lot of work, but we’ve been in touch with the community there, and they are in favor,” said Jeff Nash, the community relations executive director for CHCCS.

Despite the favorable community response, the expansion presentation has yet to be put on the town council’s November agenda.

In Monday's petition, Mike Kelley, chairman of the CHCCS Board of Education, beseeched the council, expressing the project’s time sensitivity.

In order for the project to stay on schedule, the Lincoln Center Campus expansion would need a building permit in December 2016, according to the petition. 

Though Nash said the community is in support of the project, others have doubts about the cost. 

"I think that the petition should be expedited if it will help with overcrowding in the long-run,” said Alyssa Odell, a UNC-Chapel Hill junior. "But my main concern would be the possible cost to taxpayers. It would not be worth it if they were to spike up.”

The cost of the expansion is not stated in the petition. 

According to Jeff DeLuca, aid to the mayor's office, the town council received the petition and referred it to the council staff Monday. Mayor Mark Klienschmidt was not available for comment. 

“At this point, there is not much that I can say about it. There is a process to these petitions,” DeLuca said. "The council accepted the petition on Monday night and referred it to the staff, but other than that, I don’t believe that much has been done.”