School board gets first look inside Fox Elementary ahead of Wednesday’s grand reopening
The upcoming school year is just around the corner, and Richmond Public Schools officials are eager to welcome students and families back to one of its signature buildings.
Officials and school board members expressed excitement for the William Fox Elementary School ribbon cutting ceremony, which will take place Wednesday evening.
More than 830 people have RSVP’ed for the event, said Leslie Wiggins, RPS’ chief academic officer for elementary education.
“We’re about to close the loop and come back to Hanover,” she said. “It’s a beautiful building – it was before. You will see the character is still there. When you walk in, it feels like Fox.”
Building systems, exterior painting, landscaping and furniture installation are among the ongoing finishing touches left for the new building.
Superintendent Jason Kamras said Monday night that teachers and staff have begun the process of moving into their rooms and offices, calling it “a beautiful thing to see.”
Kamras also said that Board Vice Chair Matthew Percival (1st District) noted during a previous walkthrough of the building that Fox’s reconstruction is a good example of what renovations could mean for other schools in the division.
“We have a lot of schools that – let's avoid the fire part – but if we could do the renovation part, it would make a tremendous difference for our kids,” Kamras said.
A three-alarm fire engulfed the 114-year-old building located in the Fan District, with flames visibly blasting through the school’s roof on a late Friday night in Feb. 2022. While some components were kept intact, much of the inside of the building was severely damaged.
The Richmond Fire Department has never determined the cause of the blaze, but found no evidence indicating that it was deliberately set. Investigations later found a faulty alarm panel. The building also had no fire sprinkler system because of its age, like many other schools in the division.
Up until now, students have been schooling at the former Clark Springs Elementary School building. Board members are considering different repurposing options for the building. Before that, students made temporary classrooms at First Baptist Church after students were taking virtual classes.
Victoria A. Ifatusin
The division received $15 million from the city, $5.6 from the state and used historic tax credits to reconstruct the school. Some of the original and historic components of the building have been restored and reinstalled in the building.
The last celebration signaling the school’s near completion was earlier this year, when the historic cupola was placed on the new building’s roof.
Sarah Vogelsong
Katie Ricard (2nd District), who serves the district the school is in, thanked the former school board members and echoed sentiments hoping that all RPS schools can be renovated like Fox.
“And so I hope that we get the funding that we need with the state so that we can have that … without a fire,” she said.
Contact Reporter Victoria A. Ifatusin at vifatusin@richmonder.org
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