GuRuStu Communities has successfully completed their Virtual Town Hall meeting over the proposed plans for the rehabilitation and renovation of Seminole’s old high school building.

The meeting, which took place Thursday, Jan. 14 via Zoom, was conducted in order to gauge the consensus of the community in regard to GuRuStu’s proposal.

This community engagement session was an essential component in the real estate development company’s purchase of the building, as they have agreed to only move forward with the project if they have garnered a certain level of approval from the people of Seminole.

The virtual meeting began with a presentation by Stuart McDaniel, head of GuRuStu Communities, over some recent pictures they had taken of the old high school, in order to demonstrate the current status of the building and some of the damage which will need to be repaired should the project move forward.

McDaniel then moved the meeting into a discussion over their plans for rehabilitating the structure, while keeping its historical integrity intact.

“The building at its core remains the same,” affirmed McDaniel. “We have to honor the historic characteristics of the building for the historic status.” In order to accomplish this, the team plans to refurbish the areas they hope will be used by the community, such as the auditorium or gym, in a manner which makes them, “fit for a modern event, but historically accurate.”

In addition to the auditorium and gymnasium, GuRuStu has also included what they refer to as a “flex space unit” into their proposal, which will be available to Seminole alumni and other community groups as a space for meetings.

After this outline, McDaniel opened the floor up for questions from the community members whom had joined the meeting.

One of the first concerns voiced by an attendee was what the projected timeline was for the completion of the project, should it go through. According to McDaniel, although the end date is somewhat of a moving target at the moment, it should take around 18 months from the project’s start.

Another attendee asked whether or not asbestos would be a concern, to which McDaniel asserted that, although there was some present, it is “actually pretty normal for a building of its age,” and should be a fairly routine matter to resolve.

Another interesting facet to this project which was discussed was the fact that GuRuStu has made a commitment to source as many of their workers as they can from surrounding areas. “We want to keep as much of the money we are spending on your building as we can in your community,” stated Stuart.

Following the question and answer portion of the meeting, McDaniel informed the attendees that a survey would soon be sent out with some of the questions which were asked tonight as well as some questions asking whether or not the community is supportive of the proposal.

He then appealed for everyone to “please share the survey” with as many people tied to the Seminole community as they could. “I want a lot of people to partake in that,” affirmed McDaniel.

Finally, McDaniel wrapped up the meeting by affirming that the rehabilitation will in no way be funded with tax payer’s dollars, before assuring participants of his intentions with the “legacy project,” he envisions this as. “We are proud to do this and we are excited to do this,” concluded McDaniel.

If interested in learning more about the project, one may visit the website oldshs.com.