Council tables plan in hopes of saving century-old school house

Monday night, York County Council tabled a plan to move a nearly 100-year-old former schoolhouse in hopes of saving it from demolition by a Lake Wylie Church.

Members of the Laney School House Preservation Project presented a plan to use nearly 200-thousand dollars of hospitality funds to turn the 98-year-old building into a community center inside the River Hills community.

Preservation committee chairman Don Long says the plan received scrutiny from council, but that was expected.

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

The group’s plan calls of a two-phase project — phase 1 costing 26-thousand dollars to move the 1,650 square foot facility from Good Samaritan United Methodist Church near Three Points to River Hills.

Councilman Chad Williams echoed a number of concerns from council.

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

Long said without an indication of possible financial support from county council, the pastor of Good Samaritan United Methodist Church would seek to tear down the facility in the next week and a half.

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

The plan received a good deal of criticism from council members who questioned the historical value of the house.

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

And Councilman Curwood Chappell supported keeping history alive across the county.

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

Long says that a community center in Lake Wylie is widely overdue — and that the 200-thousand dollars needed to jump-start the project is a solid investment.

Phase 2 of the project calls for refurbishing and unfitting the building for extended use.