By Moriah Schranz

The original story was posted on October 28, 2023. Here is the original link.

The question over the fate of Maury High School has been in the air for many years.

Norfolk residents are talking about demolishing Maury High School, a 113 year old building in the historic Ghent neighborhood, and many Maury staff and students agree with tearing it down.

Ghent, established in 1890, includes homes and schools over a hundred years old and Maury is its oldest high school.

In December of 2022, 13 News reported that the NPS school board had discussed remodeling Maury into apartment complexes, sending students to a new school while preserving the original building.

This week, The Commodore Chronicle polled Maury faculty and students for their opinion. According to the poll, 85.2 percent of the faculty members and 91.7 percent of the students believe that Maury should be torn down. This leaves only 14.8 percent of faculty members and 8.3 percent of students who stand for the preservation of Maury’s current building.

“This school is historic and beautiful but it is becoming a hazard,” says Claire Lewis, a senior at Maury. “They rebuilt Larchmont Elementary a few years ago and it is beautiful.”

Larchmont Elementary School, originally built in 1912, was rebuilt in 2017.

Abby Swanson, a sophomore at Maury and a 16-year resident of Ghent, says that she is used to the old buildings [in the neighborhood] and doesn’t see much value in keeping this one, but many residents with families who attended Maury stand with the preservation of this historic site.

“If they can make a new high school for the kids without getting rid of the building, that would be great,” says Ruth Cohen, 80 from Norfolk, whose family dates back to 1923 in the school.

Carmen Renn, a third-generation Maury student, is also fond of keeping the school.

“It’s a gorgeous building full of details and history,” says Renn. “You can’t recreate those intricate details, and my family agrees that it has huge historical significance.”

Those who agree with the majority opinion of the poll have a different take.

“We don’t want to learn in crumbling walls!” says Lewis. “Besides, the building is not as important as the education it provides.”