PAINTER — When Accomack County officials decided in 2005 to shut down parks and recreation operations at the former Central Middle School and sell the property, they pledged to find another permanent site in southern Accomack for the ballgames and other activities.

They found it just a stone’s throw from the old spot in a three-way deal that the county administrator last week called a win-win situation.

The Board of Supervisors Wednesday approved the purchase of nearly 15 acres behind Central School for a county park, using funds set aside for the purpose in this year’s capital budget. Closing on the deal is set for mid-March.

Plans for the acreage include a baseball field, a soccer or football field and picnic grounds.

The parcel is part of a larger tract owned by Maryland Del. D. Paige Elmore that is in the process of being purchased by Tucker Robbins — the New York furniture designer who is also buying the school property.

Robbins plans to use about 12 acres for organic farm fields as part of a design to turn Central School and the surrounding land into a showcase of environmental innovation.

The price for the entire Elmore parcel is $350,000, and the county will pay $12,500 per acre for the park land, county administrator Steve Miner said Thursday.

Elmore asked that the park be named after him — a request the board of supervisors has not yet addressed.

Why didn’t the county just keep the portion of the Central School property that was used for county recreation?

Miner cited safety as the major reason.

“You had a horribly dangerous situation there,” because of proximity of the ballfields to U. S. Route 13 and a dangerous entry from the highway, he said.

Entry off a new side street, called Elmore Road, will make the new park safer to get to than the old area for hundreds of youth and adults that participate in the county parks and recreation program.

Another consideration was poor soils that left water standing on the old fields after a rain.

“We might have made a deal if (Robbins) had not wanted the property, but he wanted it,” Miner added. Robbins then made an offer to buy the Elmore parcel as well and sell part of it to the county.

A site plan that North Carolina landscape architect Keith Robbins — who is Tucker’s cousin — presented to the board shows vegetable gardens, greenhouses and an irrigation pond in the former ballfield area.

The architect called the entire Central School project “unique...for the entire world.” Ten of Robbins’ employees will relocate from New York to Painter, he said.

“Part of the goal is...to give the opportunity for the folks here to participate,” Robbins said of jobs that likely will be generated in future phases of the plan.

The initial plan includes restoring the school building for offices, a showroom and artisan work space, using the old gym for a woodshop and building a furniture manufacturing facility certified by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building Rating System.

The system is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings.

Future phases include a slow-food restaurant and a local history museum.
Miner called the upcoming deal “a happy moment,” saying it will mean economic development for the county.

“Here’s a chance to create jobs, create investment,” he said of Robbins’ proposal to bring his upscale artisanal furniture manufacturing business to Painter.

He cited all the benefits: “We’ve got a business client, we’ve got a really great use of an existing historical structure; in the meantime we get a better park.”

There are no estimates yet on the cost to the county of developing the new park, but Miner said some items, including the outdoor lights, will be moved from the old fields.