SALISBURY — The Rowan-Salisbury School System received approval from the Salisbury Historic Preservation Commission on Thursday to demolish the breezeway between the school building and cafeteria and to install a large mobile classroom unit in the rear yard of Henderson Independent School.

Jeff Holshouser, construction manager for RSSS, said that the school system was applying for the temporary classroom pod because there was ongoing renovation on the campus, and the structure would allow the school to continue its operations. The pod would be 126 feet by 60 feet and include eight classrooms and would be installed in the rear yard of the property.

“We have a moderate renovation going on on a third of the campus and this will allow us to be able to house and educate the students and to buy more time to figure out a better way to address the issues with the main building,” said Holshouser.

Holshouser also stated that the breezeway needed to be demolished because it presented a safety hazard. He also noted that the breezeway connects to the cafeteria, which has been approved for demolition but has a months-long delay attached.

“It’s a major egress passage and it’s unsafe, it has fallen in. Knowing that we’re on that delay, we would just like to request permission to get rid of the breezeway because it’s a safety hazard,” said Holshouser.

The school was built between 1915 and 1918 after a fire destroyed a prior school building and opened as the North Main Street School in 1918. The school was renamed to the John S. Henderson School shortly after its construction to honor John Steele Henderson, a prominent local attorney and former State Senator.

The cafeteria and the breezeway were built on the campus in 1952. The media center was built in 1971 and a federal grant program helped renovate the center and upgraded the school’s technology infrastructure in the early 2010s

The school originally operated as an elementary school, but the system’s alternative learning program was moved into the building in 1999.

The school system is required to file requests with the HPC because the school building is marked as a historically significant piece of the North Main Street Local Historic District.

“Having the building out back, we actually have no issue with that at all. The concern that we do have is most schools require outbuildings because they are overpopulated and so it’s for overflow. This is the opposite, the original 1918 school building will not be used by the students, the portion that will be used by the students is a newer portion. My concern is, if that portion of the school is not being used and the students are outside, what will happen to the school?” said Kimberly Stieg, Historic Salisbury Foundation executive director.

Stieg also attempted to speak about the school system’s demolition application of the cafeteria building, which was not allowed because the commission considers the applications as a quasi-judicial board, the testimony provided during the hearings is required to be evidence-based and directly related to the issue at hand, in this case the breezeway and temporary classroom pod.

During the June meeting of the HPC, the school system asked for the demolition of the cafeteria building because of its dilapidated and unused status and so that Happy Roots would have more space for its programs on campus. According to the minutes for the meeting, Holshouser also stated that there was asbestos in the building and that abatement without demolition would be difficult. The HPC does not have the ability to deny demolition requests, but it did require the school system to delay the demolition by six months.

“Often, the best use of a historic building is for its original use…but sometimes, that’s not possible, and a new use must be found or the building will be lost. HSF is looking toward the future purpose of the school and believe retaining the 1952 cafeteria building could be an important part of that use. On behalf of the board of trustees and our stakeholders, we request that more time and effort be placed in researching options. We remain grateful to the school system and Mr. Holshouser for having such respectful dialogue and we are happy to do whatever we can to work together on a plan that does not include demolition,” said HSF Revolving Fund Manager Rachel Fink during the June meeting.

In response to concerns that removing the classrooms from the school could lead to demolition, Holshouser said that demolition was not on the table.

“I’m not here to say we’re going to demo the main building. It just allows us to educate students and gives us a break to figure out funds and a plan for the main building,” said Holshouser.

Commission member Will James asked if the cafeteria and breezeway were considered historically significant when the historic district was designated, to which city planner Emily Vanek answered that the two buildings were not built in the period of significance when the district was designated.

“This was too new, essentially, at the time to be considered a part of the historical value of the entire property. It seems to me the focus, therefore, was on the main building, so I guess I’m taking issue with the statement that this has some architectural merit to it, and if it does it certainly wasn’t a reason for creating the North Main Street Historic District. In terms of this one particular piece, I have no problem with allowing it to be demolished,” said James.

Commission member Spencer Dixon pointed out an HPC application that was approved in 2009, when the school system applied for and received permission to place smaller temporary classrooms on the property. He said that the school had shown in the past that it would remove a temporary building after it was necessary.

Dixon also stated that the commission’s only role was to decide if the application was congruous or incongruous with the historic district, and because the buildings were only temporary he believed that the request followed the historic district standards that the commission considers.

After the testimony and discussion, the members of the commission voted to approve both of the requests, with Sue McHugh being the only member to vote against approval.

“I have a terrible time with this because this school has been allowed to deteriorate. Shame on Rowan-Salisbury School System. The historic part of the building is just deteriorating and that’s why this has come before us. To your point, it’s not our purview to address that, but it’s sad that the cafeteria is going to be demolished because of neglect,” said McHugh.