Darlington converting Home-on-the-hill to alumni building

♦ Trustees vote to demolish Sydenham Hall, cite repair costs.

Darlington will be making some campus changes in the near future, starting with the demolition of Sydenham Hall and transitioning Home-on-the-hill from the head of school’s residence to a new alumni building.

“This is all part of our campus master plan process,” Head of School Brent Bell said.

Sydenham Hall is one of the oldest buildings on campus, according to Bell, and has served many purposes over the years, from dormitories and an infirmary to, most recently, administrative offices.

The Board of Trustees recently sat down to discuss what should happen to the building. Multiple repairs are needed, and the board determined the cost to fix the building was too expensive.

The school will likely bid out the demolition in the next few months and take down the building sometime over the summer when students won’t be on campus.

They have no current plans for the space and Bell said it’ll just be “greenspace” for now.

The traditional residence of head of school, Darlington’s Home-onthe-hill will become the Alumni and Friends House.

Home-on-the-hill is one of the oldest buildings in the county, originally belonging to Phillip Hemphill, one of the founders of Rome, in 1832. According to Bell, legend has it that the story of pulling names out of a hat to choose the town’s name took place in the front yard of the home.

Bell said he and his family have moved out the home. It will now be used to host events and gatherings with members of the community as well as students, their families and alumni.

Although the house will become more of an event space than a residence, Bell said they won’t be doing any major renovations to the building.

Contributed One of the oldest buildings in Floyd County, the Home-on-the-hill has served as the main residence for the Darlington head-of-school over the years. Now, it’ll become the Alumni and Friends House.

Contributed Sydenham Hall has served Darlington for over 80 years as dormitories as well as offices. Due to major repair expenses, the Darlington Board of Trustees has decided to demolish the building over the summer.