Meade County residents fighting to save 153-year-old house the school district plans to demolish

BRANDENBURG, Ky. (WDRB) -- Nearly 1,000 people have signed an online petition to save a 153-year-old Brandenburg house recently acquired by the Meade County School District (MCSD), pleading with board members not to tear down the former home of a long-time area educator.

Built in 1870, the Virginia Haynes Allen Miller House sits along Old State Road directly across from Meade County High School. Haynes Miller, who died in 2016 at the age of 92, became the first economics teacher at Meade County High School, according to her obituary. After pausing her teaching career to raise five children, she taught eighth-graders at Battletown Elementary School and Stuart Pepper Middle School until her retirement in 1988.

"She was very fond of the school and very fond of the kids," said Gerald Fischer, curator of the Meade County Historical Society. "She was important to the community."

The property been part of the district since 2017, when MCSD purchased the property from the Miller family. After dedicating in Miller's name, the district said it has made investments in repairing the more than 150-year-old home.

Lisha Duke, who's organizing a petition to save the house, said there have been roof leaks at the house as well as mold damage and asbestos. And in April, the Meade County School Board made plans to demolish the house after an inspection unearthed many of those issues.

Since then, Duke has acted quickly, sparking an effort to save the home. At the school board's next meeting May 9, she wants to plead her case and spark a vote among its members. Duke said she wants to be on the meeting's agenda that night, adding that "real results only happen on the agenda."

"I emailed every single board member — they got the same email this morning — begging to be put on the agenda for May 9," she said. "As I understand it, past this one ... demolishing the house can happen."

District Superintendent Mark Martin said in a written statement the item "will not be on the May board meeting agenda" and they won't spend any more money on the deteriorating home — which is not on the historic register — but will instead invest in students' education and teachers' salaries.

"As we prioritize the needs of our students and employees, we have made the decision not to invest additional annual resources in a deteriorating, unsafe structure," Martin said. "Rather, we will continue to invest in our students' education and the salaries of our team of dedicated employees. We must ensure that our funds are used in areas that directly impact our students and employees."

Fischer said they get calls almost daily of people asking if there's anything they can do to keep the house from being demolished.

"It's hard to lose landmarks," he said. "I would be overjoyed if it can be saved. If it can't be saved, then we have to do the best we can. That is a historic piece of property up there as well."

Duke believes the community would help with needed repairs costs.

"We have no estimates on what it would cost to take care of the house," she said. "The community doesn't really care. We'll get it. We'll take care of that."

Ultimately, Duke said she wants the school and community work together to make the home and its surrounding property suitable for programs.

"There's plenty of property for kids to be able to learn life skills that they're not learning in schools," she said. "We have so many different programs, beautiful programs in the county, that can utilize the house in the evenings."

It's a piece of Meade County history Duke believes can continue to be used for education and carry on Miller's legacy.

"It's important that this house stays, and if Meade County Schools can no longer afford to maintain it, maybe they should look at either giving it back to the family or give it to the community and let us take care of it," she said. "Because it is a part of us. It's a part of our history."