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Wilmore Elementary Historic Status Back On City Council Agenda

CHARLOTTE-MECKLENBURG HISTORIC LANDMARKS COMMISSION

A proposed Historic Landmark designation for the old Wilmore Elementary School is again on the agenda for Charlotte City Council members Monday night.  A public hearing on the proposal has been delayed twice.  

The local historic landmarks commission has recommended giving landmark status to the Wilmore Elementary property.  The school opened in 1925 on West Boulevard near Uptown Charlotte, and became a focal point of cultural and social life in the surrounding community.  CMS still owns the site, but no classes have been held there since the late 1970s.

Monday’s City Council zoning meeting marks the third attempt this year to hold a public hearing on the Wilmore designation.  A scheduled hearing in February was postponed, as council members discussed the purpose, timing, and potential impact of giving the abandoned school historic landmark status.  

One point of discussion among council members and city staff has been whether the historic designation would preclude any potential future use of the Wilmore Elementary site for affordable housing- a top priority for city leaders in recent months.

Council members deferred the public hearing again at last month’s zoning meeting.  The meeting begins at 5 p.m. on Monday at the government center.

Mark Rumsey grew up in Kansas and got his first radio job at age 17 in the town of Abilene, where he announced easy-listening music played from vinyl record albums.