Page 18 - Delaware Lawyer - Issue 1 - 2024

FEATURE | ‘WALKING THROUGH THE DOOR AGAIN’
was finalized in early 2012. During this time, there was litigation with the HCC in the Court of Chancery pertaining to governance-related questions. Once that litigation was resolved, FOHCS and HCC were able to effectuate an amicable future property transfer.
While monitoring the Chancery Court litigation with HCC to effectuate the property transfer, FOHCS began developing a strategic plan for rei- magining and funding 107c. Knowing 107c’s “game-changing” role in our countr y’s histor y, it became clearly evident that 107c was much more than just a piece of well-located real estate in Hockessin. As if 107c’s histo- ry wasn’t enough, even more incred- ible was discovering there were former students still alive who had attended 107c in the 1920s, ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s. Meeting the former students and their “Inspirer-in-Chief”, Sonny Knott, changed ever ything. At this point, FOHCS’s strategy evolved from a real estate-focused mission to highlighting the memories and experiences of the former students as the real inspiration behind future programming.
Post Sheriff’s Sale — ‘Wandering through the Desert’
FOHCS spent the “post-sheriff’s- sale” period testing future possibili- ties for programming at 107c, with an emphasis on its history, capturing the former students’ memories, maximiz- ing its future community impact, and completing the property transfer from HCC. On June 30, 2015, FOHCS closed on an amicable transfer of the property. This began an extended peri- od of conversations with key stakehold- ers around what we should do with this priceless community asset for maximum benefit and impact.
The first challenge post-closing was what to do with a partially completed ad- dition that would require $750,000+ to finish. After extensive deliberations, the
FOHCS Board decided that with NCC building code violations, a lack of funds to finish, and lack of a compelling “ask,” the 80% unfinished addition should be demolished and the back wall stabilized, to preserve as much of the original struc- ture as possible. FOHCS obtained a grantfromtheLaffey-McHughFounda- tion for a demo contractor to remove the addition and stabilize the building.
During the balance of 2015 and 2016, FOHCS worked with Kevin Wil- son, AIA from the Architectural Alli- ance, Lou Rosenberg from Mitchell Associates, and Stephen Mockbee from Bancroft Construction (all pro bono) to create a preliminary conceptual plan and budget for re-imagining the prop- erty. We also began sharing our concep- tual plan to transform the school into a “Community Hub and Educational Innovation Center” with multiple stakeholder groups to gauge their inter- est in partnering. Despite a number of positive initial responses, in late 2017, nothing firm had materialized that met the feasibility test for fundraising and certainty of execution.
In mid-2018, FOHCS was ap- proached by Dr. Gina Harrison, owner of Lane PreSchool, who was interested in purchasing the property and redevel- oping it into a preschool and early child- hood educational center. The Board saw this opportunity as a way for the school to be used for future educational purposes, with sales proceeds used to repay the AAEF and Dick Christopher. Unfortunately, after several months of positive progress, on December 6, 2018, FOHCS received notice from Dr. Harrison that due to serious personal health issues, she was withdrawing the offer to purchase the property.
This sequence of frustrating activi- ties led to very stressful moments and fomented doubt from the Board about whether we would ever “stop wander- ing in the desert and reach the promised land” with 107c.
So at the end of 2018, and into early 2019, there was enormous pressure to 1) rise above an “ever more doubting” FOHCS Board; 2) not disappoint our lenders, who were losing faith that we could repay their loans; and 3) not let the former students down and pray they would live long enough to see 107c brought back to life.
The ‘Hundred and First Blow’
Magically, in mid-January 2019, FOHCS Board member Bill Allen was contacted by Cheryl Corn and De- nee Crumrine of the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce (DSCC) with incredible news. Through the conflu- ence of Joshua and Cynthia Martin be- ing awarded the Marvel Cup in 2019, DSCC informed us that they had hired John Sweeney, former editor of the News Journal, to write a feature article on 107c for their May/June Delaware Business Magazine “Superstars in Edu- cation” issue. This amazing gesture by DSCC became the “ideal catalyst” for our mission, and we gained priceless vis- ibility and credibility at a time when we could not have needed it more.
The DSCC article was planned for publication in May 2019, so we worked to solidify our efforts to optimize the property’s future use by focusing on 107c’s history and the former students led by Sonny Knott. This direction be- came the real “wow” and created an ideal “hook” to expand the impact of our programming around enhancing cultural competency, fostering safe con- versations around contemporary social issues, and creating innovative social in- frastructure strategies.
Thankfully, after years of study, disappointments and refinement, the FOHCS Board unanimously approved a plan to transform 107c into a Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Equity (CDISE) in late 2019. This branding and programming direction received very positive reactions from New Castle
16 DELAWARE LAWYER ISSUE 1 2024