By STEPHEN DAWKINS

Staff Writer

HOOVER – The Hoover Board of Education will sell the former W.A. Berry High School campus to the Vestavia Hills Board of Education for $11 million.

U.S. District Judge Madeline Haikala issued a court order Aug. 17 approving the sale of the campus, after Hoover BOE voted in April to sell the property, according to a press release from Hoover City Schools.

“I am pleased with [the] decision by the court granting the request of the Hoover Board of Education to sell the ‘Old Berry’ high school campus to Vestavia Hills City Schools,” Hoover City Schools Superintendent Kathy Murphy said in the release. “Many in our community fondly remember their time at W. A. Berry High School. It’s a school rich in history…a place where memories of a lifetime were made. We are pleased that the Vestavia Hills Board of Education has chosen to purchase this campus and to revitalize it so that more students may benefit from its existence and more lifetime memories can be made.”

The campus, which is located off Columbiana Road and is surrounded by the city of Vestavia Hills, comprises about 40 acres and includes the main school building, a football field/stadium and other miscellaneous athletic facilities, according to Jason Gaston, public/media relations coordinator for HCS .

Before the campus can change hands, the city of Hoover must de-annex the property and Vestavia Hills must annex it. These steps are not expected to be roadblocks.

The money from the sale will go into Hoover BOE’s General Fund, Gaston said.

The campus opened in 1959 as W.A. Berry High School and was open until 1994, when Hoover High School opened on Buccaneer Drive.

The school reopened in the mid-1990s as Berry Middle School then closed again when the new Berry Middle School opened in 2005.

Most recently, the school housed some district-level departments, including Student Services and Technology, as well as the system’s alternative school program, Gaston said.

Student Services, which handles attendance issues, second-party residences and more, has been moved to available space at Brock’s Gap Intermediate School, a fifth and sixth grade campus in west Hoover in the Lake Cyrus community.

The Technology department has been moved to Ira F. Simmons Middle School off Patton Chapel Road.

Sheila Phillips, superintendent of Vestavia Hills City Schools, said in the release that officials plan to hold community forums, stakeholder focus groups and community surveys to discuss a facilities plan for the Berry campus.

“We will move forward with these conversations thoughtfully and methodically to ensure all our stakeholders are heard in the months ahead,” Phillips said in the release. “I want to once again express our gratitude to the city of Hoover and the Hoover City Board of Education for the opportunity to work jointly for the good of both school systems. I also want to thank our own city leaders who have contributed so greatly to our acquisition of the Berry campus.

“We believe this facility will benefit all Vestavia Hills children and residents as we work together to preserve and revitalize the legacy of this great school and stadium.”