By VANCE MALCOM OSTEEN
Reporter

Standing before a packed house, Superintendent of Schools Rick Myhre gave the City of Sopchoppy an ultimatum: the city commission has 90 days to accept the school board’s offer to take the Sopchoppy School property or allow the school board to put the property up for sale.

Myhre appeared at the city commission’s meeting on Monday, Jan. 13.
Following an initial proposition at the school board’s December meeting, the city commission was hesitant to accept the school board’s offer, citing budgetary concerns over the expected cost of renovations to the historic building.
“I have concerns with the space,” Vice Mayor Lara Edwards confided to the room. “The cost of renovations will exceed $650,000, and without grants from the state, the cost of these repairs will be expensive.”
Built in 1926 and accredited in 1928, the historic Sopchoppy School was added to the National Register of Historic Places back in October 2001. Significant for its use of hand-quarried limestone, the space sat in disrepair after school district rezoning had Sopchoppy students attending Medart Elementary.
The concerns over ballooning repair and maintenance costs for this historic landmark did nothing to quell the audience’s yearning to take the property back from the school board and open it up as a community space.
Though public comment rang with support for the acquisition of the school, with many citing the charitable work of the Sopchoppy Opry to help cover the cost of repairs over the past 25 years, the sentiments of the city commission was decidedly more hesitant.
“We’ve been having these talks for over three years,” said council member Nathan Lewis. “If we’re going to go down this road, and I think we should, we need to explore every possible option before we make a decision.”
In an effort to give the city – which was proposed the deal by previous Superintendent of Schools Bobby Pearce nearly five years ago – more time to deliberate, Myhre suggested discussions of a possible 30-day extension to the board’s initial 90-day deadline if the city came close to reaching a final decision.
“I want to help fulfill a promise made by Bobby (Pearce); I want to help give the school back to Sopchoppy.”
The commission adjourned on an optimistic note, with the council unanimously agreeing to hold a meeting later in the month to field public suggestions over the fate of the property.
“We are very prideful of that property,” concluded Vice Mayor Edwards. “The path forward is unclear, but we won’t dismiss the right of first refusal.”
The City of Sopchoppy will have town hall on the fate of the Sopchoppy School on Monday, Jan. 27, at 6 p.m. at the Sopchoppy City Hall, followed by a monthly city commissioner’s meeting on Feb. 10 at 6:30 p.m.