HAMPTON, Va. (WVEC) — Ruthann Kellum knows the former Wythe Elementary School better than most people. She taught there from 1984 to 1992, and her son went to school there. She still looks at school photos from time to time.
"You look at the students that are in the pictures, and you wonder where they are now, or where they might be," Kellum said.
Now, Kellum said she's excited to see the next evolution for the Wythe Elementary School building. Hampton City Council approved a development plan to turn the former school into an apartment complex at a meeting Wednesday night.
It has been closed up for nearly 10 years.
"It's still beautiful, its bones are beautiful, but it needs some work," potential property manager Carla Mingee said.
Developers plan to start construction and renovations of the building in 2019 and open the building for residents in 2020. Classrooms will be turned into apartments and some will even keep the classic chalkboards.
"I'm not so sure if I'll want to live where I taught," Kellum joked. "But I'll have to think about it."
She said the school was more than a building a compared it to a home for many teachers, students, and community members.
Mingee said the revitalization of the school could be a huge boost to the Wythe neighborhood in Hampton.
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