Project looks toward a brighter future

A sign on the front of the former Stoneville Junior High School gymnasium reads “Jacob Dillard Community Development and Enrichment Center.”

The sign is more goal than reality at present, but two local pastors hope that will soon begin to change.

“We have a dream of replacing something that has outlived its usefulness with something that will serve the needs of the community for many years to come,” said the Rev. Kenneth Moore, pastor of Sharon Missionary Baptist Church in Stoneville.

Moore and fellow pastor Perry Webster from Greater Burning Bush Independent Holiness Church co-chair an effort to convert the site of the old school on Deaton Loop into a modern community center designed to meet the needs of youths and seniors from throughout the Western Rockingham County area.

“This project has the potential to be something great for our communities,” said Webster, who also serves as chief of the Madison Police Department. “Our mission is to give residents of all ages a place to come free for education, fellowship and recreation.”

Moore said Sharon Baptist purchased the old school – including the gymnasium, classroom building and surrounding property – in 1999, without really knowing how they would use it.

Moore became pastor of the church in 2004 and began updating the gymnasium for church use.

“We put on a new roof, put in new heating and air conditioning and did a lot of painting and upgrading,” he said. “We got the gym ready for use by our young people and set up exercise equipment on the stage.”

The church used the gym for special programs and dinners, and opened the doors for local youths as part of the outreach program. Even portions of the old classroom building were used for meetings and dinners in the early years, and more recently for storage.

But the classroom building has developed serious structural problems and is no longer useable. Moore said the church recently decided to turn the property over to a newly formed committee with the mission to give new life to the old site.

“We want to tear down the classroom building and build a new state-of-the-art facility in its place,” said Moore.

In addition to meeting rooms and classrooms with modern audio-visual technology, the new structure would have a modern kitchen and dining hall with seating for up to 250 people.

“There just isn’t a place on this side of the county to have a dinner of that size,” Moore said. “We want this to be something special for our community.”

As with most projects in their infancy, the major drawback presently to the plan concerns financing. Moore said the first hurdle would be $29,000 to pay for asbestos abatement.

“The tiles used in the building are made with asbestos,” he said. “There’s also asbestos in the wrappings around the pipes and old boiler.”

Webster said the total cost to remove and dispose of the tiles, then tear down and haul away the old building would be about $80,000.

The dozen members of the committee directing the project were assembled from across the county. They range from District Attorney Phil Berger Jr. and new Stoneville Councilman Jerry Smith to Stoneville Elementary principal Debbie Claybrook and McMichael High School guidance counselor and basketball coach Randel Galloway.

“We have a wonderful group of people with a wide range of knowledge and experience to help us with this project,” Webster said. “We also hope to meet with the town councils in Madison, Mayodan and Stoneville soon to set out our proposal.”

Several committee members have experience with locating and writing applications for grant funds, which Moore expects to be a major factor in raising the necessary finances to build the new center.

In addition, the committee has already arranged for donations to be received through BB&T Bank branches.

The inaugural fundraising event for the project will take place during the annual New Year’s Eve Watch Night Service held each Dec. 31 in the gymnasium. Several local churches combine for the service, which Moore said fills the gym.

“The churches decided to put all the proceeds from this year’s offering toward the community center project,” he said. “We’ll also continue to take donations from the community and apply for grants and other funding.”

Donations toward the project should be made out to Jacob Dillard Center and can be taken to any BB&T branch.