A mayor in McDowell County says hundred of people have signed a petition seeking to stop Iaeger High School and an adjacent football field from being demolished.

Iaeger High is closing for good after the current academic year ends and students are being transferred to a consolidated River View High School this fall in Bradshaw.

The McDowell County Board of Education plans to build an elementary school on the site of Iaeger High School. But Iaeger Mayor Joe Ford says it would make more sense for the new elementary to go up at the site of the existing elementary. He says that would allowed the old high school and football field to be saved.

Ford says the high school could be used for community activities and as a shelter in case of disaster.

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