For years, the old Fairmont Heights High School has sat empty to the chagrin of former students of the school, who’ve considered it a historic site in Prince George’s County, Maryland, because of its role in educating Black students during the era of segregation.
This week, the Prince George’s County Council took a big step toward finding a new use for the facility, which sits fenced off and run down in the middle of a residential neighborhood near the D.C. line.
By declaring the school “surplus property,” the parcel of land will be transferred to the county’s Redevelopment Authority, which has a deal in place to sell the land to a film company ready to build a studio there that should be finalized this summer. That new use drew lots of praise from former students of the school who spoke to the county council this week…