The Radford City Schools Partners for Excellence Foundation, Inc. is hosting the reopening of the Arnheim house Saturday, which has been renovated and will be used as additional classroom space for Radford High School and Dalton intermediate students.
Built circa 1838 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Arnheim was the home of Dr. John Blair Radford for whom Radford was named.
Fired upon by Union soldiers during The Civil War, legend has it that a single cannonball remains hidden in the foundation. Many Radford Bobcats will remember it as the home economics or Spanish building adjacent to Radford High School.
Closed for almost 20 years, the foundation has been working on remodeling the home for the last three, according to one its directors and recently elected school board member Lee Jordan Slusher.
“The house was used as classroom space for the school system many years ago. With its rebirth, Arnheim will now serve a new generation of 21st Century learners,” she wrote in an email.
Slusher estimated that more than $50,000 has gone into the renovations, but didn’t have an exact number because some of the supplies and labor were donated.
The downstairs portion of the house is 95 percent complete while upstairs is only 20 percent complete, Slusher wrote.
She noted that quite a lot has been updated in the last three years, including:
- Demolition of the 2nd floor interior
- Removal of Asbestos in the basement
- Complete renovation of the east and west wings
- Multiple upgrades to the foundation
- Installation of support headers and 13 support posts
- Membrane roof replacement with new foyer flashing
- Some replacement windows and new side door
- Refinish hardwoods and add new hardwood flooring
- New plaster and paint 1st floor
- New wiring
- Brickwork on east wing
- Landscaping
- A new sign; will reveal the name of the new education center
The foundation hopes to have the rest of the home completed in the next year, including installing air conditioning in the home, although that all depends on the donations it receives, according to Slusher.
She wrote that the hope is to have the building in use in the next year as well, but that decision ultimately rests with the school system.
The house is located at 40 Dalton Drive (next to the high school) and will be open to the public from 3-5 p.m. Saturday.
Light refreshments will be provided and admission is free; however, donations will be accepted to support “new educational experiences for the city’s children.”
Parking is available in front of or behind Radford High School or at the Radford Public Library where a shuttle will be provided.
More information about the foundation can be found at www.rcps.org.
