The public will have a chance to help shape the future of Ligon Magnet Middle School in Raleigh. 

Wake County school leaders are deliberating three different proposals to rehabilitate the historic school. Two of those options would demolish the current building.

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Thursday's community and stakeholder meeting will be held at the school's auditorium from 6 to 8 p.m. During the event there will be a presentation about the options and time for discussion. 

The school board could vote on an option as soon as February. 

Many alumni have opposed tearing down the building, which was originally slated for a renovation. In 2022, Wake County voters approved a bond issue to fund an infrastructure plan that included a planning phase for the project, anticipated at that time to be a renovation.

Rebuilding the school would be more expensive than renovating it, according to district cost estimates, though at least one rebuild option would fall under the $140 million budget for the project.

Many alumni want to preserve the history of the school, including its architecture, and are frustrated that a rebuild is now in the works when many alumni say they were repeatedly told by system officials that a rebuild would not be in the works.

Here are the options being considered: 

  • The first option would be to move students to a new temporary campus on the current site of the school's ballfields, while the system renovates the existing building. The cost of the project would be $102.3 million, and the project would take 51 months. That option wouldn't meet certain goals that system officials have, which include expanding the size of the building and classrooms and expanding space for traffic to queue before and after school.
    • The second option would be to move students to a new temporary campus on the current site of the school's ballfields, while the system demolishes the current building and builds a new one. The cost of the project would be $148 million, and the project would take 56 months. That option would accomplish the goals that the first project would not be able to, and system officials say they could preserve the history and legacy of the original school through design elements on the new building. It would, however, be overbudget, take the longest and disrupt learning with the temporary school building, officials note.
      • The third option would be to keep students in the current building while the system builds a new school on the site of the ballfields. The cost of the project would be $121.8 million, and the project would take 45 months. That option would also meet the goals that the first option would not be able to. It would move the campus from the top of the hill, which alumni say they prefer, to the back of the property, lower down. The new building would be elevated to address that concern. With this option, system officials say they also could preserve the history and legacy of the original school through design elements on the new building.

        The school system doesn't list a preferred option, but they have no qualms with the third option, as they noted with the first two.

        The school system said there will be more feedback opportunities after Thursday's meeting. 

        Ligon's history and why alumni have issues with some of the proposals

        Ligon was built in 1953, replacing Washington High as Raleigh's only all-Black high school during a time of segregated schooling, back when Raleigh City Schools was independent from the suburban Wake school district, according to a history on the school's website.

        The high school was desegregated in 1971, before the city and county school systems merged, and converted into a junior high school.

        After the merger, in 1982, Ligon became a magnet school, part of a system of magnet schools designed to lure white students from the suburbs to the urban schools in Raleigh to help further desegregation efforts.

        The building has been added to over the years to accommodate growth.

        In 2026, the school building is showing its age and requires three trailers to accommodate enrollment that's slightly above building capacity.