FREE The Lynchburg Times Furniture runs Vol. I, Issue 16 • December 16, 2010 Heritage High School: The Building that Won’t Go Away (part II) By Yvonne Behrens to be independent politically and administra- they who concluded that there was a need.” hired them to build what would become Her- The Lynchburg Times tively of a county in which they are geograph- To conclude the annexation, a city needs to itage High School. in the family ically located. Population determines city pay the counties the value of their land, build- Annexation occurred within the period of “It was an old-fashioned land grab,” states status,” shared Mr. Walter C. Erwin, III, City ings and personal property tax. In the case the oil embargo. The country was scram- Councilman Edgar James Turner Perrow, Attorney. According to Erwin, Lynchburg, of Lynchburg, it was also mandated to build bling to develop alternative means of relying Jr., Representative of Ward IV, of Lynchburg which became a city in 1852, became land- a high school for the residents that were an- on energy (the more things change, the more city’s 1976 annexation of parts of Campbell locked in the mid-1970’s. It had outgrown its nexed from Campbell County and in the most they remain the same!). The firm presented County and Bedford County. “There was a boundaries and needed to expand. expedient manner possible. a plan for a beautiful, state of the art school lot of nastiness and bad feelings around the “Legally it was allowed to annex lands from As it turned out, an architectural firm out that would rely on solar energy for its heating issue.” There was such contention that nearly Bedford and Campbell Counties if it met cer- of Houston, Texas, Caudill, Rowlette, & Scott needs. The school was built on a hillside that xxxxxx xxxx everyone from that city council was replaced tain criteria,” continued Erwin. “A three judge had been hired to build Jefferson Forest. So faced south. Some of the roofs were built on at the next election. panel was appointed from around the state to they were already in the area. They also had an angle and were to have solar panels placed “Virginia is the only state that allows a city determine the need for annexation and it was their own construction management firm. on them. Thus the focus was not on insula- xxxxxx xx This allowed the project to get started with- tion, a much cheaper way of maintaining out the delay that would have occurred look- indoor temperature, but on the idea of solar to call Crime Stoppers at 1-888-798-5900, visit ing for a construction company to build the power. the Central Virginia Crime Stoppers website at building. And, the architectural firm had a Although solar energy was to heat the build- www.cvcrimestoppers.org to enter a web tip, or floor plan for a school that they had built in xxxxxx xxxx text “CVCS plus your message” to 274637. Crime Texas. As speed was of the essence, the city See HERITAGE, Stoppers will pay up to $1,000 for information re- xxxxxx xx garding this crime. All information is totally confi- dential. City Council xxxxxx xxxx approves xxxxxx xx one-time Insurance bandit loose in Amherst Help put Lynchburg public safety xxxxxx xxxx 5 The Amherst County Sheriff’s Office and Am- on the Food Network! herst Police Department are investigating a se- bonus xxxxxx xx ries of burglaries that have occurred in the town The Cavalier restaurant on Rivermont Avenue, and county the past week. a Lynchburg institution, is featured in a YouTube The burglaries have all occurred at local insur- video, which was created as an entry for a contest ance companies. On the night of Sunday De- from the popular Food Network TV show “Man vs. cember 5th or the early morning hours of Monday Food”. The winning video will result in an epi- Va. AG wins xxxxxx xxxx December 6th the Wilson Insurance Company sode of that show being filmed at that location. on south Main Street in the town of Amherst was One of the criteria for judging the winner is entered and cash taken. On the same night, the going to be the number of times each YouTube round one in xxxxxx xx Gant Insurance Company on South Amherst video is viewed. Highway was entered and a check taken. Addi- So, please watch the video (more than once tionally that night, a window was broken out of would be even better), and forward it to your fight against Mays Tucker Insurance Company on South Am- friends and ask them to do the same. herst Highway and Farm Bureau on Falcon Crest Let’s help put the Cavalier (and Lynchburg) on Lane. national TV!!!! Obama Anyone with any information regarding this Watch: tinyurl.com/cavalieryoutube 11 crime or the identity of the suspect(s) is asked – from the Chamber of Commerce Healthcare FREE in Kroger, Food Lion, McDonalds & hundreds of other places! BLACK Page • The Lynchburg Times • December 16 - , 010 Read every issue online at www.lynchburgtimes.com The Lynchburg Times www.lynchburgtimes.com Publisher & Editor: Dan McDermott [email protected] Advertising Sales Manager: Angie Buterakos [email protected] 540-683-9197 Sales Team: Kendra Heath: 434-209-3046 [email protected] Sceauncia Parr: 434-207-8581 [email protected]: Dianne Tranks: 434-258-3326 [email protected] Staff Writers: Yvonne Behrens [email protected] Lauren Satterfield [email protected] Emily Williams [email protected] BLACK Read every issue online at www.lynchburgtimes.com December 16 - , 010 • The Lynchburg Times • Page HERITAGE, from 1 tinued. “There are a couple of areas of the leaks in Heritage’s roof were found in the The new bleachers are to be installed before school that are bad, but it certainly is not curtain walls throughout the building. That graduation. Due to the high mercury content ing, solar panels were never put on the build- everywhere. In fact, when we moved into is, the problem does not lie in the “bones” of in the gym’s floor, removal cannot start until ing. By the time the high school was complet- the school, we were very excited. It was air- the building, but rather in the “skin” that is after graduation. ed, the oil prices had gone back down, there conditioned! E.C. Glass had been built in the wrapped around it. Over the past two weeks, citizens have been was not such a push for alternative energy ‘50’s and didn’t have air conditioning.” The The best solution is to “rip-em [the sidings] invited to focus on how to best approach the sources and that market dried up. Along with students and teachers were very pleased with all out,” explained Gatzke. The team also ex- Heritage situation. According to Councilman that, the grant monies the city was planning this new, modern building and the problems plored a number of options that would stop Michael Gillette, who is also the chair of the to rely on to purchase the solar panels also seemed minor in comparison. the leaks for the next 8-10 years until a plan Task Force delegated to explore approach- had dried up. There was a sense of adventure, of being for the school’s future is established. The es, “we are wanting to have citizen input to Unfortunately, as history has demonstrated, part of something new. “The first group of three temporary fixes under examination come up with all the questions that need to the school also was poorly built. Lots of mis- students were remarkable,” stated Coleman. are the Duo-Guard panel system, the Dryvit be asked. We want first impressions, and for takes were made under pressure of needing to “They demonstrated incredible leadership “outsulation” system, or an elastomeric spray those who come to several meetings, to dig have the building done by a certain time. qualities, bonded together and established coating. a little deeper. I feel confident from the out- According to Albert Coleman, Assistant the identity of the school very quickly. The The infrastructure at Heritage is still con- come of the first two meetings that citizens Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruc- teachers, the parents, everyone was involved sidered sound. The frame of the building is will be willing to roll up their sleeves and do tion, who was a teacher at Heritage the year with assembling desks and moving furniture. made of steel (normally considered a nearly the work required.” it opened, “The first year, we were housed at It was fun being part of that coming together.” indestructible material). The sports fields, In spite of all the woes that the building the old Sandusky Middle School. The school To this day, that spirit continues to embody the parking lots, all the other aspects that seems to be experiencing or because of them, comprised 9th, 10th, and 11th graders. The Heritage. make up Heritage are top notch. Heritage will most likely be rebuilt to reflect a 12th graders were allowed to stay in the There seems to be some differing views as to Since its construction, however, Heritage school of the 21st century, whatever that may schools they had gone through. By the sec- what may be causing the leaks. Some studies has had its roofs replaced at least three times end up looking like. And Lynchburg residents ond year, the school had been built, but was determined that they were being caused by and is slated to have it replaced again. This are being invited to help create that vision.