While Pasquotank County officials deliberate what to do with the vacant middle school building, a city councilwoman is making a push that could make the county's search moot.

Councilwoman Anita Hummer believes the former Elizabeth City Middle School building rightfully belongs to the city and that an old deed exists to prove it. According to Hummer, the now-vacant school building is supposed to revert to city ownership when it is no longer used as a school.

"I have spoken with several citizens who have lived here all their lives and they have told me that an old deed ... exists with Pasquotank County, and that it contains a restrictive covenant that states: when the building is no longer utilized as a school, the property shall revert back to the city of Elizabeth City," Hummer said. "If (the deed) does exist ... then the city should claim this building."

Hummer says the city could definitely use the 40,000-square-foot structure, which has been vacant since the Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Public Schools replaced it by opening a new middle school on Northside Road in January 2007.

"Wouldn't this be a prize for the city to take this historical building and save it for our citizens and at the same time remodel it as a combined public safety building and city hall?" she asked.

Pasquotank County officials, however, maintain the building reverts to county ownership once the school district no longer needs it for a school. The county just took possession of the building last month, after school officials determined they had no further use for it.

Assistant County Manager Rodney Bunch said the title to the building indicates that ownership reverts to the county once it's no longer used as a school. But like Hummer, Bunch said he's heard that a document signed by both city and county officials in the 1960s may contain a reversion clause that grants the building's ownership to the city.

At the time, the ECMS building was a high school in what was then the Elizabeth City school district. When the city and county school districts merged in the 1960s, a new high school was opened and the ECMS became a middle school in the new joint Elizabeth City-Pasquotank school district.

So far, a document granting city ownership of the building has not been located, Bunch said.

"We're not anticipating finding anything," he said. "Right now it appears the school district, 'i.e.' the county, are the owners of the building."

City Manager Rich Olson said he and city attorney Bill Morgan met with Bunch and Pasquotank Attorney Michael Cox last week to review the ownership issue. Thus far, it appears the county is the rightful owner, Olson said.

He said school officials have combed through minutes of school board meetings dating back to the 1960s, but found no mention of the school reverting to the city when it becomes vacant. Olson said he and Cox plan to continue their search for the merger agreement to see if it contains the clause Hummer says would grant the city title to the structure.

If the document does exist, and can be found, Hummer said the city could use the old school as an annex to City Hall, where it could be used as a public safety building for the police department. The current annex and the police department's current home — the A.P. Midgett Building on the corner of Colonial Avenue and Pool Street — is quickly deteriorating.

Another city official, 2nd Ward Councilman Tony Stimatz said a $60,000 facility study recently funded by City Council might identify the former middle school building as an alternative to the Midgett annex, and could be used for the city's planning and electric departments as well.

The former school's main building, built in 1923, is considered structurally sound and features a relatively new roof and air-conditioning system. The school's annex along Elizabeth Street, however, is not structurally sound. County officials have considered tearing it down to build a parking lot. County officials have estimated the cost of renovating the school at $1.4 million, which doesn't include the $100,000 cost of installing an elevator.

Because county officials are still trying to determine what to do with the vacant building, Commissioner Matt Wood said Monday that city officials are welcome to pitch their ideas for using the old school.

This past December, the county was close to a deal with the Elizabeth City State University Foundation that would have turned the building over to the foundation. The agreement would lease the former school's gymnasium back to the county for $1 a year for 25 years. Negotiations with the foundation have dragged on, however, without any formal agreement being reached.

A number of other community groups have also approached the county about using the facility. A consortium of groups led by the Albemarle Hospital Foundation in fact talked about converting the building into a community resource center that would include a health clinic and office-program space for Albemarle Smart Start, the Elizabeth City Boys & Girls Club, the Police Athletic League, Northeastern Community Development Corp., River City Community Development Corp., College of The Albemarle and ECSU. But nothing came of that proposal either.

The latest proposal came Monday by Phyllis and Dave Kondracki of the Veterans Family Resource Center of the Albemarle, a group that envisions converting the former school into a nursing home for veterans.

The River City Chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police, a local charitable group, is currently using the school's gymnasium for its upcoming Halloween Haunted House fundraiser in October. County officials have said the FOP's agreement could be extended for another year if they are unable to reach a deal with someone else on another use.