Rebuild Bay County outlines AD Harris progress; CRA OKs pursuing state marker and local plaque

Rebuild Bay County Inc. presented a progress report on management of the AD Harris Learning Village and the Community Redevelopment Agency board voted to pursue a state historic marker and local plaque for the site.

The update matters because the city-owned site is being repositioned as a community resilience hub that staff and the nonprofit say has unlocked grant and program opportunities while the board weighs historic recognition options that could affect future uses.

Donna Pilsen, executive director of Rebuild Bay County Inc., told the board the group assumed management after a January 2024 request from the CRA and proposed “a community resilience center that will be a hub of services on-site and access to services that the community could count on in blue skies and in gray skies.” She summarized work to stabilize the building and open program space, with the kitchen and cafeteria identified as priority projects.

Pilsen said volunteers have contributed about 800 hours — “nearly a 100 volunteers” — and that the organization has increased revenue by about $3,200 a month while trimming expenses by roughly $1,000 a month. She described grants and donations that helped replace a nonworking walk-in freezer, a United Way grant supporting community resilience work, and an HRP (Home Repair Program) funding request for paving, exterior lighting and interior fencing. Rebuild Bay and partners are also running a transitional home program in partnership with Habitat for Humanity and are establishing a Community Organizations Active in Disasters (COAD) group centered at AD Harris, Pilsen said.

City staff presented a separate memo about historic recognition for AD Harris. Staff said the property’s historic significance is well documented but advised that the current buildings appear to have lost the integrity required for listing as historic structures on state or national registers. “It is our opinion that AD Harris School is ineligible due to a lack of original structures and just the loss of the integrity of the structures over the years,” staff said in the memo, citing the difference between designating a site and designating surviving buildings.

Board members discussed potential consequences of formal building-level designation, with one member noting owner restrictions she had experienced on a different property listed on the National Register. Board member Janice Lucas moved to authorize staff to pursue the state-level recognition process for the AD Harris site; the motion passed on a roll call vote. The board also directed staff to install a local plaque for the site and to report back with more detail on how site-level recognition would differ from building-level designation and whether any designation would limit Rebuild Bay County’s current programming.

Discussion vs. decision: Rebuild Bay County’s report was informational and included operational figures and program plans. The formal board actions were (1) a vote authorizing staff to pursue state-level historic recognition and (2) staff direction to install a local historic plaque; staff will return with additional analysis about building vs. site designation and potential operational impacts.

The board did not change the facility’s management arrangement; Rebuild Bay County remains the manager. Staff and Rebuild Bay County said they will continue regular coordination and provide updates to the CRA, and staff will coordinate any historic marker language or application with community stakeholders.

Ending: The board approved the state-level inquiry and local plaque installation while asking staff to flesh out the legal and programmatic details so the CRA can weigh any constraints before pursuing building-level registry efforts.