by Tom Chillemi –
Converting the former Rappahannock Central Elementary School into a microbrewery and event center was part of a major plan to revitalize both sides of General Puller Highway (Route 33) at Cooks Corner.
With the brewpub and restaurant project off the table, construction is still scheduled for 24 “workforce housing” apartments to be built behind the Cooks Corner Office Complex by the Middlesex Foundation. Five of the units will be reserved for low-income households, defined as a family of four with an annual income less than $51,000.
Water lines were installed in December 2020 and a sewer collection system is being engineered for the Cooks Corner area. Water and sewer are key to the development of the apartments.
Abandoned plan
In March 2019, the overall project was to have involved moving the former St. Clare Walker High School vocational-agricultural education building across Route 33 and converting it into a restaurant and the abandoned school into a microbrewery and event center. The white wood-sided building, that stands close to the highway, was the agricultural and vocational school for African-American students during segregation. The proposed project that would have preserved and restored it was eliminated, when the developers bowed out, in part, due to the effect of COVID-19…
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