The Oak Hill City Council has concluded its public input meeting on the future of the old BB&T Bank Building, which the city bought in 2022.
There were a total of 836 people voted on the survey. It was circulated online via social media, which was the quickest way to get the survey in front of as many people as possible.
77% of survey participants are Oak Hill residents. The rest live outside city limits.
Fifty-seven percent of the respondents voted to repurpose the building. People who chose to vote in favor of repurposing the building could pick multiple options for the building’s future, including a museum or art gallery, veterans memorial, office space, or business incubator.
Using the building as a museum or art gallery was the preferred option, and the other three were ranked roughly the same, with totals below 50%.
Almost thirty percent of the respondents were in favor of selling the building, and around 12 percent voted to demolish the building and use it for something else.
The meeting began with a letter from two former members of the Oak Hill city government, urging the city council to ask the people of Oak Hill about using the bank building as a new city hall.
However, the city council has already voted not to pursue that option, and are looking for alternatives.
So far, city council has not publicly voted on the results of the survey and will continue to evaluate the numbers.
