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, the former school building is used as museum collections storage of material culture from the Carolina Piedmont with the auditorium serving as a performing arts venue. Today, the preservation team of the Culture & Heritage Museums is working to preserve the auditorium.
In April 2021, Culture & Heritage Museums’ staff observed movement in the roof framing over the auditorium. Structural engineers with preservation training were hired to help develop a plan on how to successfully make repairs to roof framing in order to reopen the McCelvey Center. The structural repair work is expected to start in late 2023 or early 2024.