The York Graded School, now known as the McCelvey Center, was expanded in 1922 and served as a school for the people of York into the 1980s. Under the stewardship of the Culture & Heritage Museums (CHM), the former school building is used to store CHM collections of material culture from the Carolina Piedmont with the auditorium serving as a performing arts venue. Today, the preservation team of the CHM is working to preserve the auditorium.
CHM’s staff observed movement in the roof framing over the auditorium in April 2021. Structural engineers with extensive preservation experience developed a plan to structurally repair and reinforce the roof framing over the auditorium.
As of June 30, 2025, our preservation contractor has completed the majority of repairs to the roof trusses as designed by our structural engineer. Currently, our contractor estimates finishing all the necessary repairs and structural reinforcement, as well as interior repairs and repainting of the plaster walls, in late Fall 2025. The McCelvey Center will remain closed to the public during construction.
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