MARYVILLE, Tenn. — Fort Craig Elementary School was educating students for years. In 2013, it closed and since then half of it has been underutilized, according to Greg McClain, city manager of Maryville.
McClain said many locals have left childhood memories in this little piece of land and cherish it as if it's sacred ground.
"There's a great number of people in our community that went through the school, played on this playground, and in regards to that change is hard," McClain said. "Because they remember -- there's a nostalgia that I went to school there."
The city had put out a request for proposals when a developer approached them. Initially, McClain said the plans had more development in them and more commercial propositions to add.
However, those were old plans, and right now, building one hotel was playing center stage for the city. The part of the elementary school that's in this plan is where the playground is. It's an almost 2-acre L-shaped big yard that they want to rise the hotel.
Blount County Partnership said this would make a big difference for the community. Maryville could become more of a destination rather than tourists passing through. Which would mean more money for the community.
"This would be a great kind of midway point, between the two, get people more exposed to the downtown area in Maryville," Jeff Muir, communications director of Blount Partnership said. "So, this would be an ideal location for new businesses to operate in."
Maryville City Schools said they've operated at over capacity and this space is helping them spread the weight. They plan to move some departments at Fort Elementary School.
"Our central office will be relocating here, as well as Maryville Academy and Maryville Virtual Schools already here," Maria Greene communications director of Maryville City Schools said. "We've already relocated our tech department to this building."
The city manager said, this part of the school where the district is utilizing it for some of the departments will not change, and it will remain to serve their needs.
However, the empty space in the back that has been sitting there for about a decade underutilized, could be echoing that it's time for a change.
This plan is still in its initial phase. It would take a couple of years to come to fruition and for the city to see the hotel. McClain said the city council will vote this Thursday on whether they will accept the developer's proposal or not. Thereafter, the school district would have to release the land rights to them.
"Everyone's trying to be sensitive to the fact that change is hard," McClain said. "But times do change and it's time to take this ground and make it productive for the community."