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Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
Ammie and Will Akin stand in the former library and media center at the new Hub in the Hills at the former Vestavia Hills Elementary School Central building.
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Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
Will Akin, right, and his wife, Ammie, talk about potential exterior changes to the former Vestavia Hills Elementary School Central as the Akins develop a vision for the new Hub in the Hills.
The former Vestavia Hills Elementary School Central building could begin a major transformation as soon as this summer, the purchasers of the school say.
Ammie Akin, an educator with more than 20 years of experience, and her husband, Will, a principal of Capital Growth Real Estate, this past fall agreed through a company called Wellspring Holdings to purchase the property from the Vestavia Hills Board of Education for $1.25 million.
Ammie Akin said she hopes to give the school, to be called Hub in the Hills, a second act after serving the children and families of Vestavia Hills for 30 years. While her ultimate vision for the property is still coming into focus, Akin said she wants Hub in the Hills to be a vibrant resource for learning, connecting and service for the entire community.
“It’s going to be a place where connections happen and people gather together, help each other and support each other because of the things that are in the building,” Akin said. “There are going to be wonderful things in the building, and I don’t know what they are yet, but they’re going to be wonderful.”
Akin said her vision for the Hub is a community space where children and adults can explore the arts, learn new skills, receive tutoring and form relationships over shared interests, all under one roof.
She uses the Jack Black movie “School of Rock” to explain her vision. In that movie, a failing rock musician poses as a substitute music teacher at a private elementary school, exposing them to hard rock and turning them into a rock band.
At Hub in the Hills, instead of dropping off their kids while they run errands, the parents can find ways to connect as well, Akin said.
“So, imagine if I drop my son off at School of Rock, and instead of getting in my car and running into Walmart Neighborhood Market, I come inside, and I go into the cafeteria but it’s no longer a cafeteria; it’s a sleek cafe,” Akin said. “The kitchen is exposed with floor-to-ceiling glass, and you can see middle school students in the kitchen learning some type of culinary skill from one of Birmingham’s top chefs.
“For me, it’s a place to gather and connect,” Akin said. “It’s less about what’s there, and it’s more about the people that are there.”
With the property under contract as of Vestavia Voice’s press time, Akin said she and her husband will need to raise much more than the $1.25 million purchase price to get the project off the ground. The Akins have sought guidance from Birmingham-area experts and are making connections with people and organizations that have expressed interest in being a part of Hub in the Hills.
She admits the project isn’t the most logical from a strictly financial standpoint. However, she said her husband, normally the practical one, became excited about breathing new life into his former elementary school.
“My husband buys buildings to make money, so for him to take the lead and say, ‘Let’s buy this, and let’s do this,’ was kind of like, ‘What’s going on with this man?’” Akin said. “When you walk through this building, there isn’t one thing about this project that makes any sense.”
As word has circulated throughout Vestavia about Hub in the Hills, Akin said she regularly receives texts and messages asking the same questions about what and who is going to go in the building and when it’s going to open.
Akin said the result should not only be a place for community connectivity but also to pay homage to a school building that was an important part of the Vestavia Hills community for more than three decades.
Additionally, Akin added that she recently had a film crew gather footage of the empty school building, which has only strengthened her resolve to preserve the legacy of Central Elementary while giving the “iconic” school a second act.
To assist with development and planning of the project, Akin turned to Third Lens Ministries, a faith-based design and construction organization that has assisted with building churches, orphanages and other charitable assets throughout Central America, South America and Africa.
Director of Operations Bill McMahon said they are still in the early phases of the project and expect the first drawings to be complete this spring and construction to begin this summer.
Additionally, McMahon said he has a personal connection to the school and the Vestavia Hills school system in general. Both of his children attended Central Elementary and McMahon grew up in Vestavia Hills, going to the city’s schools from first grade through his graduation from Vestavia Hills High School.
McMahon explained that the goal of the overall design will be to convert the building into the dynamic, multi-dimensional space envisioned by Akin while retaining as much of the history, character and charm of the original school building as possible.
“This is definitely a renovation, not a demolition. We’re not going to demolish the school,” McMahon said. “When you ride up, I think it will be a healthy balance of ‘Hey, this used to be Central’ and ‘Hey, this is amazing what it looks like now.’
“It’ll just kind of bring it into the current state and make it much more inviting for this intended use,” he said. “To me, it’s the personal connection that makes it special.”
McMahon said his company will assist the Akins in developing a fundraising package to help them put their vision for Hub in the Hills into action and share it with the community. They will also provide some preliminary conceptual designs, estimated costs and a fundraising target.
“It’s going to be a total rework of the front entrance, making it a lot more inviting and to set it up for the ministries that they want to house in the building,” McMahon said. “So, all we’re doing right now is the first phase.”
As the idea for Hub in the Hills coalesces and word of the project spreads through the community, Akin said a buzz has started to build. As she talks with nonprofit organizations and civic-minded individuals, Akin said she begins to visualize the result in detail, and others are starting to follow her instincts.
“As we start talking about these things, I’m talking with organizations, I’m talking with my son’s basketball coach, then that’s where the dream begins to develop,” she said. “That’s when for me this dark and gloomy school, all of a sudden there’s life there. I can see it.”
Learn more about Hub in the Hills at hubinthehills.org.
