The History of the Ferguson

Ferguson Center and Ferguson High
Left photo by A.J. Jelonek 
Right photo courtesy of Newport News Public Library

The History of the Ferguson

By A.J. Jelonek

The Ferguson Center for the Arts in Newport News, Virginia is known for magnificent performances in world-class theaters and halls. What many don’t realize is the history and decades embedded into its walls. The building and its grounds have seen many different chapters throughout its lifetime. As a junior high and high school, it rose to the needs and changes of its city. Following its sale to Christopher Newport University in 1996, it transformed into the jewel of performing arts in the Hampton Roads area, raising the university and city to new levels of prestige. It has adapted to fit the differing needs of its region, while never wavering in its original mission to instruct the next generation.
 

Ferguson High School.
Photo courtesy of Newport News Pubic Library

 

A GROWING START
 
During World War II and the Korean War, Hampton Roads’ population had blossomed from personnel expansions at the area’s multiple military bases and shipyards. Many of those individuals set down permanent roots on the Peninsula and started families. This was true for the County of Warwick, one of Virginia’s oldest established counties. Between 1940 and 1950, Warwick’s population had grown from a predominantly rural area of 9,248 to a bustling community of 39,875. The county had only two segregated high schools: Warwick High School for White students, and George W. Carver High School for Black students. To help school systems across the country combat growing enrollment numbers, the federal government passed Public Law 815 in 1950. This law provided aid to build new school facilities in areas that had been impacted by federal government-mandated activities. In April 1952, with their remaining entitlement funds, the County of Warwick sent in an application to build a junior high school for White students.[1]

Two years of inactivity on the funds would pass, during which Warwick County became the City of Warwick. In April 1954, the U.S. Department of Education sent the school board a notice that their funds would expire if they did not submit site plans by the end of the year. The board started to look for 30-acre sites near Warwick High, which the junior high would feed directly into. They initially tried to acquire a site owned by the Mariners’ Museum, located across the street from the high school. After many months, talks with the Museum ended fruitlessly, and the board looked into alternate options. In November, they chose a 29.66-acre site on the southeast corner of Shoe Lane and Warwick Boulevard. It was mostly composed of wood and pastures, but featured two houses, barns, stables, and various outbuildings.[2]

 
The land choice was not without controversy. The Morrison Civic League, a local Black neighborhood committee, had been working towards purchasing these same plots of land to develop a Black residential community. When they heard the board was pursuing this land, the Civic League requested they consider other sites for the junior high. They pointed out Black citizens could not purchase similar-sized sites elsewhere in the city because Black people “are not desired.”[3] The school board informed the Civic League that “consideration would be given to their request.” However, needing a site to be chosen before the funds expired in the next month, “it would be difficult for the Board to relinquish its efforts to secure this particular property.”[4] The school board would proceed forward with the Shoe Lane site. The landowners, four out of five of which were Black, initially rejected the school board’s offers, citing their asking prices were too low. This resulted in the board requesting condemnation suits against each owner. By late May 1955, the board had acquired all the parcels for a total of $70 thousand.[5]
 
The school building was designed by Richmond architect Samuel N. Mayo. Warwick’s school system regularly hired Mayo for their building projects, such as Deer Park, Sanford, and Lee Hall (now Katherine Johnson) Elementary Schools. Mayo’s school design for the junior high was dubbed the “most modern on the Peninsula.”[6] Construction began in the fall of 1955 by the Mottley Construction Company. The school, to be named Warwick Junior High School, cost over $1.6 million to build. It consisted of 24 classrooms, six science labs, two typing rooms, one main gym, two smaller gyms for the different genders, two courtyards, a library, an auditorium with 800 seats, and a cafeteria. The building was placed diagonally on the property, facing the Shoe-Warwick corner, so an exclusive bus loop road could be accessed from Shoe Lane, but the parking lot could be entered from Warwick Boulevard for driver convenience purposes.[7]

Warwick Junior High opened for its first day of school on September 6, 1956. Only the minimum number of rooms required for school operation had been completed. The cafeteria and other specialty spaces would continue to be worked on through the coming months. By March 1957, all construction had concluded, and the school was deemed complete. Warwick Junior enrolled 8^th and 9^th grade students. In its first year, it also taught 7^th grade to ease overcrowding at Riverside Elementary. Students chose the school’s mascot to be the Cavaliers and their colors red and gray.[8]

 
While the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education U.S. Supreme Court decision ruled that separate but equal Black and White schools were unconstitutional, it did not provide a path for schools to desegregate. As a reaction to the court’s decision, Virginia Senator Harry S. Byrd brought about the Massive Resistance movement. This movement passed many laws in Virginia intending to hinder and oppose integration, including the creation of a pupil placement board and closing school systems that attempted to integrate. The City of Warwick willfully maintained a segregated school system during this time. As such, Warwick Junior High would only teach White students.[9]

 
Shortly after the conclusion of the school’s first year, the City of Warwick and the City of Newport News decided to merge into one city. Warwick wanted access to established infrastructure and the benefits provided by Newport News’ favorable business tax revenue rates. Newport News wanted more land for its own overcrowded conditions and more White voters to drown out its large Black population. The consolidation officially occurred a year later on July 1, 1958, with the new city taking on the better-known name of the two, Newport News. It now had two White high schools, Newport News and Warwick, and two Black high schools, Huntington and George W. Carver. Warwick Junior High School remained the only junior high in the city.[10]

 
As the dust of the merger settled, the combined city continued to grow rapidly with new residents. Warwick Junior High, originally built with a capacity of 1,200, taught nearly 1,600 students during the 1960-1961 school year. That class’s yearbook reported that “many lockers are shared by two or more people, since there are not nearly enough to go around.” The school hired “floating” teachers, teachers without a permanent classroom. One floating teacher even repurposed his army footlocker to store his supplies and graded papers. The City of Warwick had been preparing to build a high school a mile up Warwick Boulevard along Roy’s Lane (now Minton Drive), but the project was put on hold during the consolidation. The new Newport News School Board (NNSB) brought these plans back, but consolidation had cost the school system time, resulting in much more overcrowding. A new White high school was desperately needed.[11]
 
Meanwhile, the newly merged city also had to decide if it wished to continue the junior high program. After a study was taken, the findings led the school board to believe keeping the junior high structure would require two junior high schools for every high school. Already overburdened with needing so many more school facilities, they decided to end the junior high program after the current school year. Now with a large, spare building and an overcrowded secondary school system, the school board decided to convert Warwick Junior High School into a fully-fledged high school. This would offer a quick fix while the NNSB continued work towards developing the Roy’s Lane property.[12]

 
Since there was already a Warwick High School, the school would need a new name when it started teaching at the high school level. Students of the junior high submitted an initial list of possible names, including Riverside, Cavalier, Museum, Robert E. Lee, James River, Peninsula, Deep Creek, and Hidenwood. At the public discussion, someone suggested T. Ryland Sanford, who was the superintendent of Warwick when the junior high school opened. As Sanford was a current member of the new city’s school board, he humbly declined. Other citizens requested that the high school be named after Homer Lenoir Ferguson, whom had passed away in 1953. Ferguson had been president of Newport News Shipbuilding through both World Wars, co-founded the Mariners’ Museum just down the road, and had a hand in developing both the Shipyard Apprentice School and Hilton Village. With unanimous agreement, the NNSB christened the school Homer L. Ferguson High School.[13]

 
In its first high school year in 1961, Ferguson held grades 8-11, with 12^th grade being added the following year. While school was in session, additions were built to increase capacity and bring the facility to high school teaching standards. A new two-story 16-classroom annex was connected to the back of the school by an enclosed promenade. On the east side, a choir room was added and the band room was expanded. 10th and 11th grade classes were held in the library, auditorium, and cafeteria until the new spaces were completed. Once construction finished, the school was officially dedicated on February 15, 1962. Ferguson’s widow Eliza was invited to the ceremony, where she presented the school with a portrait of her late husband.[14]

 
Going along with the late Ferguson’s nautical connection, students worked towards rebranding their school. The junior high’s Cavalier mascot was replaced with the Mariners. The colors changed from red and gray, to blue and white. Several publications sported seaworthy names, including The Helm publication journal, The Windjammer newspaper, and The Mariner annual yearbook. The school also held a “Miss Mariner” pageant, the first one occurring in 1965. To make the Mariner presence known by all those who passed by the school grounds, students were loaned an anchor from the Mariners’ Museum and set it under the newly-erected front sign.[15]

 
Even with its new additions, Ferguson was still not able to keep up with the area’s growth. For the 1962-63 school year, Ferguson’s additions had upgraded the school to a 1,700 capacity – yet enrolled 2,100 students. Plans to use the Roy’s Lane site as a high school were abandoned when multiple community groups petitioned the school board not build there. Most of the growing White population of the city was located to the north, and they wanted a White high school centrally located to their neighborhood elementary schools. As one elementary school PTA noted, “Geographically speaking, it does not seem correct to locate a new school within 1 mile of Ferguson High School and 2 miles of Warwick High School, particularly in a city of the configuration of Newport News which is over 20 miles long in the North-South direction.” [16] The NNSB agreed, eventually opening both Denbigh High (1965) and Menchville High (1970) to the north. These schools would eventually ease Ferguson’s overcrowding. The Roy’s Lane site was later used for the John B. Todd Stadium and the school system’s administrative offices.[17]
 
While new schools were on the horizon, Ferguson continued to build more additions and improvements to its campus. The school received its first permanent tennis courts in August 1963, followed shortly by a running track and baseball diamond. It would share these sporting fields with its neighbor across the street, the newly-founded Christopher Newport College. A cafeteria addition opened in 1964 to increase indoor seating capacity. The school still lacked a space big enough to hold the entire student population at once. This was finally solved in December 1966 when a new main gymnasium opened with a capacity to hold 1,800 spectators. This would become the boy’s principal gym; girl’s gym classes would use the three other gym spaces.[18]

 
Ferguson made local history when Mary Passage became Ferguson’s third principal in 1965. Superintendent George McIntosh told the board he was suggesting “a bold move in search of excellence. We found it was not necessary to go beyond our own personnel to find the person we needed.”[19] The appointment made Passage the first female principal in Newport News, the first on the Peninsula, and the first at a larger-sized high school in Virginia. "I must have been as smart as a man, or I wouldn't have gotten the job," Passage later reflected.[20]

 
While Newport News made this stride in gender equality, it still largely maintained a racially segregated school system. Change would be slow to come. Following a 1960 court order, NNSB created its first desegregation plan. Students wishing to transfer schools had to fill out an application, take aptitude tests, submit recommendations from former teachers, and be interviewed by a committee. The committee, in turn, would send a recommendation to the school board, who would then make a final decision on the student transfer. In 1961, 14 Black Newport News students successfully transferred into previously all-White schools. A year later, Ferguson would welcome its first enrolled Black students: Quinton Hedgepeth, Brenda Lewis, and Thomas Sterling. The placement tests were done away with in 1963, following the Commonwealth and the city of Norfolk eliminating testing in similar transfer plans. After the federal government passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the school system’s desegregation plan was deemed unacceptable. To remain minimally compliant and still receive federal funds, the school board enacted a Freedom of Choice plan, allowing students to attend any school they so desired. Every student would receive an application annually and would be required to fill it out, selecting the school of their choice with a parent/guardian signature. No application would be rejected, unless the school requested was overcrowded. While some Black students transferred to White schools, not one White student transferred to a Black school.[21]
 
In 1968, the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) determined that Newport News had not been making further progress on eliminating its dual school system. They ordered the school board to submit a desegregation plan or face having their federal funding cut off. A representative from HEW met to discuss and field the Board’s questions. The meeting was held in Ferguson High’s auditorium, as it had drawn over 500 attendees. HEW Representative Dr. Haddock noted that “the free choice method of assigning students to schools is not an acceptable method of school assignment unless it accomplishes its purposes,” its purposes being racial desegregation. Haddock stated the school system still had ten schools entirely composed of Black students and teachers, so it was not in compliance with the law. The board vehemently denied this. They cited due to the shape, size, and housing patterns of Newport News, it was financially unfeasible to bus students as desired by HEW.[22] One board member argued, “That some single-racial schools result from private housing patterns and the desire of parents and children to attend neighborhood schools can not [sic] properly be credited to the School Board.”[23] After the HEW representative left, the board doubled down and passed a resolution stating their Freedom of Choice plan fully upheld the law, and they would continue implementing it. After an administrative hearing the following year in Washington, D.C., HEW cut off federal funding to Newport News Public Schools.[24]
 
In 1970, on behalf of a group of Black families, the NAACP sued the Newport News School Board on its dual school system. In June 1971, Federal Judge Walter E. Hoffman ruled that Newport News’ Freedom of Choice plan was unacceptable. He ordered the school system to immediately desegregate by means of busing for the upcoming school year. With no other option, the school system complied with the ruling. Two weeks before the start of the school year, the federal court approved the school system’s busing plan. For secondary education, Newport News was broken into 7 different busing zones. 1-2 different zones (usually on opposing sides of the city) were assigned to a school, with student demographics set around 60% White and 40% Black to match the population ratio. School faculties were also reorganized to create racial balances. Huntington, Carver, and Newport News High Schools became intermediate schools, covering grades 8 and 9. Each intermediate school was paired with one of the remaining high schools, which now taught grades 10-12.[25]

Many White parents were not happy their children would be changing schools and socially mixing with Black students. They argued long bus rides would developmentally impair their children, that their education at another school could be substandard. These parents organized a local chapter of the Save Our Neighborhood Schools organization (SONS) to protest busing. They made sure their gatherings were highly publicized. While the school board was forced to comply with the court order, they sided with the protesting White parents and appealed the court’s decision. The board would continue to appeal without avail until they eventually gave up in 1974.[26]

 
At Ferguson High School, busing brought many changes. Paired with Newport News Intermediate, Ferguson received students from the predominately-Black downtown Newport News and the predominately-White midtown. 65% of the student population changed from the previous year, along with half of the teachers. Former Huntington High School Principal Ross M. Hines became Ferguson’s new principal, the first Black principal of the school.[27]

 
Two weeks into the school year, students of Ferguson joined other Newport News high schools in a walkout protest. Inspired by a parent/student walkout a few days earlier at Carver Intermediate, others were hoping to repeat on a larger scale. Some White students had complained of harassment and bullying from their Black peers. Parents/SONS fanned the flames as much as they could. Some parents met students outside and marched, others drove from school to school with their children, yelling at students to join the walkouts. To minimize the driving instigators at Ferguson, Principal Hines personally drove a school bus to block off the school’s driveway. Following the walkouts, School Superintendent George McIntosh met with 15 student representatives from the secondary schools to discuss their issues. There, he proposed the creation of a city-wide student committee to help ease adjustment problems for all students. This brought an amicable and productive end to the city-wide student protests.[28]
 
Even so, there were still plenty of tensions and points of animosity at the individual schools. At Ferguson High, theft and vandalism had increased from the previous year. One student let out their frustration by setting off three separate fires on a Sunday, resulting in $3,000 worth of building damages. Participation in extracurricular activities were down, and school pride was at an all-time low. The school tried to alleviate any possible racial division when possible. Some sports teams chose co-captains, one Black and one White, so students couldn’t choose along racial lines. The Miss Mariner Pageant was simply not held for two years. Similarly, there was no Homecoming King or Queen, but the school held elections for a larger Homecoming Court.[29]
 
One thing that did help create some school unity was football. The busing zones selected for Ferguson gave the school some of the better football athletes in the city. Ferguson would go on to win their season 9-1 and hold the Peninsula District Championship title that year. The Peninsula title was not one that was easy to achieve, as that title was rarely won by anyone other than City of Hampton schools. "I think it helped that we were a good football team," Coach Harlan Hott later reminisced, "That seemed to pull the school together … when we started winning, it seemed to flow to the student body."[30]
 
It would take time, but tensions would ease. Bused integrated schooling became normal. As Newport News teacher Vivian Miller summed up five years later, “We do not have half as many outbreaks in the classroom, fights or what-have-you, and everything is beginning to settle down. Even the Blacks and Whites now are making friends. The parents are friendlier.”[31]
 
During the evening of April 14, 1972, a fire was discovered in the Ferguson library. Even though it was after school hours, hundreds of people were in the building attending a recital by the touring University of Auckland Choir. The blaze was quickly reported, allowing everyone to safely evacuate. The fire department arrived shortly thereafter and put out the blaze before it could spread elsewhere in the building. They determined the fire was accidental, caused from a cable short-circuiting. The fire caused $50,000 worth of damages. Among the things lost were over 3,400 books, as well as the portrait of Homer Ferguson that had been presented to the school by his wife. The library was quickly renovated, reopening the following month. A new portrait of Ferguson was presented to the school by his family a year later.[32]
 
Ferguson High School and the City of Newport News proclaimed March 6, 1973 Homer L. Ferguson Day, in honor of what would have been Ferguson’s 100th birthday. The school hosted a ceremony on the day and encouraged all students to wear blue and white. Ferguson’s sole surviving son Attorney William McLeod Ferguson, Jr. was in attendance, along with other family members. The family presented the school with medals he had been awarded during his life. These included the Cross of the Legion of Honor from France, Knight Commander - Order of King Leopold II of Belgium, and a Certificate of Merit from U.S. President Harry Truman.[33]

 
Ferguson athletics continued to do well throughout the 70’s. In 1976, the girl’s tennis team debuted undefeated and won the state championship. The school’s crowning moment came two years later, when the undefeated men’s basketball team went up against James Robinson High School in the state championships. After being behind the first two quarters, the Mariners caught up in the third quarter. After a tense fourth quarter, Mariner junior Grant Robinson scored two foul shots with 14 seconds to go. Robinson High then received two free throws after a Ferguson foul, but were only able to score one. The Mariners won 69-68, becoming the 1978 Virginia state Group AAA champions.[34]
 
Ferguson High would keep adapting to new changes and programs throughout the 70’s. In 1974, a Naval Junior ROTC program was established at the school. A building expansion in 1976 gave Ferguson a 30% larger library with air conditioning (a first for the building), a 50% larger main office, reorganized guidance offices, and the addition of a greenhouse. 1978 became the year the school offered co-ed gym classes for the first time. In 1981, the intermediate schools were recategorized as middle schools. As such, they would teach 6^th-8^th grades, returning 9^th grade back to being taught in high schools.[35]
 
On the night of December 9, 1982, Ferguson’s principal and two other administrators were involved in a car accident after a basketball game in Williamsburg. Principal Timothy Walter and Director of Guidance Bob Lee Hearst died at the scene, while Assistant Principal Freddie L. Travis was critically injured. The school community fell into shock and mourning upon learning the news. A formal memorial service was held in the main gym on December 13. Huntington Middle School’s Principal Dr. John W. Kilpatrick was transferred over to Ferguson to become the new principal. To honor the late men, a Walter-Hearst Scholarship was established, which was awarded annually to a Ferguson senior. In the spring, the drama department presented The Sound of Music, as that show had been frequently requested by Mr. Walter. Ticket proceeds from the performance raised $1,500 towards the scholarship. Freddie Travis would ultimately survive the accident. Initially paralyzed from the neck down, he was able to eventually regain some body mobility. He was given a disability retirement from the school system in 1984, and passed away in 2010.[36]
 
During some pipe and ceiling tile maintenance over the summer of 1983, some unknown white dust had fallen on the floors. After samples were taken to a lab, the dust was determined to be asbestos. Asbestos was a material commonly used in early 20^th century buildings for its effective insulator and fire-retardant abilities. Its use was prohibited in 1973 once it was discovered to also cause cancer and lung disease. The city’s health department had inspected all the schools for asbestos materials in 1979, but no asbestos had been detected. Following the discovery at Ferguson and another at Briarfield Elementary School, the school system re-inspected all of its schools, finding asbestos present at nine others. Ferguson would receive renovations in 1984 to remove asbestos from its ceilings and lights. Asbestos removal would again happen in 1989 when the school received building-wide air conditioning, as well as new windows. Asbestos still remained within the building, but was deemed safe as long as it was not disturbed.[37]
 
As the years passed since the Warwick & Newport News merger, the consolidated city’s population shifted and grew more towards the north. Despite this, school attendance zones had not been changed since the 1971 court order. As a result, Denbigh and Menchville started experiencing overcrowded conditions, while Warwick and Ferguson’s student populations dropped. With not enough student interest in some courses at each school, Ferguson and Warwick shared these particular classes between themselves. Students were bused from one school to the other during the school day to be able to attend.[38]
 
To address the northern overcrowding, the NNSB started planning for another high school in the northern half of the city. However, families in the southern half were not happy to hear this. All of the current high schools were located in midtown or higher. The predominantly-Black downtown had not had a high school in its area since the court ordered busing began. Those in the downtown area faced longer bus rides than those in the predominantly-White northern areas of the city. The downtown families argued that the school system was ignoring their area, adding it to a growing list of other civil rights violations.[39]

Aerial view of Ferguson High School, Christopher Newport University, and its surrounding area
Circa 1993, Courtesy of the CNU Archives

GRADUATING HIGH SCHOOL
 
Across Shoe Lane, Ferguson’s neighbor Christopher Newport College (CNC) was also in a bit of a bind. It had started out in 1961 as a two-year branch of the College of William & Mary. In its second decade, it became a full four-year college and had gained independence from its mother school. By the late '80’s, the college had used up most of its original 73-acre site. It was short on classroom space, and started to look towards expansion. Its master plan listed several residential properties along its border as future expansion pads, something those property owners were not keen about. By being listed in the master plan, they believed their property values would go down, and they would have trouble finding buyers other than the college. "No one wants to invest their hard-earned money where they never know when they'll be forced out," said Joyce D. Hunt, president of the Home Property Owners Association. The Association even sued, saying the college was trying to drive out predominantly-Black homeowners for the benefit of its predominantly-White students. CNC’s President Anthony Santoro repeatedly explained the college’s policy that it would only buy properties if they were already for sale. Residents were still not convinced.[40]
 
President Santoro could see the Newport News school problems, as well as an opportunity to give everyone what they wanted. What if Christopher Newport bought Ferguson High School? The college would get an expansion that would instantly double the classroom space on campus. They would no longer need to expand into the other neighboring properties, easing residents’ worries. The school board would get money from the sale, which could be used to fund the construction of two high schools instead of one, each on different ends of the city. Santoro soon started talks with the City of Newport News and the public school system over this idea. These talks culminated with Newport News School Superintendent Donald Bruno adding the Ferguson sale to his proposed Capital Improvements Plan (CIP) FY90-95 in 1989. The plan was to sell Ferguson High School to CNC for $12 million. In exchange, Newport News would build a $17 million high school to the north along Woodside Lane, and convert Hines Middle School (the former Carver High School) into a modern high school for $11 million.[41]
 
Most of the members of the NNSB were in support, while others had reservations. Board Member Gary Curbow pointed out the federal government was considering defense spending cuts – could that bring about a population decline in the area, nullifying the need for another high school? James Batterson thought more time and study was needed before making the sale. “Is this action best for now or would it be better to wait several years to better see what the needs in the year 2000 will be?” he asked.[42] When the vote occurred the next month, the school board voted 5-2 in support of the CIP – most board members agreed the benefits outweighed the uncertainties. A month later in January 1990, the Newport News’ City Council had their vote, unanimously supporting the sale of Ferguson.[43]
 
Things became complicated in the Virginia General Assembly, where CNC would be allocated money to buy Ferguson. The 1990 Virginia state budget was tight. However, Virginia Delegate of Newport News Alan A. Diamonstein was able to secure the sale to the list of projects funded by lottery proceeds. Months later, the early 1990’s recession forced Virginia Governor L. Douglas Wilder to reallocate the lottery proceeds to fill budgetary shortfalls, indefinitely shelving those capital projects.[44]
 
Prior to the start of the 1992 legislative session, Santoro restarted attempts to get the money for the sale in the state budget. He enacted a grassroots campaign, convincing community groups and leaders to lobby on the necessity of the project. The efforts paid off. With help from Delegate Diamonstein and Senate Committee Chairman Hunter Andrews, the project was included in the state’s General Obligation Bond for $10.8 million. The bond package was voted on and passed by Virginia voters in November 1992. The new selling price then had to go back in front of the Newport News City Council to get approved, as they had previously agreed to sell Ferguson for $12 million. They, again, unanimously agreed. An official deal was finally reached. On March 13, 1995, President Santoro of the now-named Christopher Newport University (CNU), Rector David Peebles, Newport News School Superintendent Dr. Eric Smith, and Newport News Mayor Barry Duval formally signed the purchase contract in a ceremony on the front steps of Ferguson High School.[45]
 
On the public-school side of things, the population had kept growing, forcing the school system to reckon with rezoning while the Ferguson sale was still up in the air. Many options were discussed, including combining Warwick, Denbigh, and Ferguson’s student populations, and making either Warwick or Ferguson ninth grade only. Many Ferguson students and teachers rallied against this option, not wanting to lose their school. The school board relented, choosing a rezoning plan to transfer students from overcrowded Denbigh to Ferguson and Warwick. The school board also changed their plan from building one high school and renovating the former Hines Middle School. When a large, previously unavailable plot of land in the southern part of the city became available, the NNSB went about acquiring it to build a second high school. In October 1994, the identical Woodside and Heritage High Schools had their groundbreaking ceremonies. Each $20 million dollar school would open in the fall of 1996. Since the Ferguson sale contract was signed in 1995, the City would lease Ferguson from CNU for $45,947 a month until the new schools opened.[46]
 
In July 1995, CNU’s Board of Visitors toured Ferguson High School. A study on Ferguson completed earlier that year stated “Although the space is well-maintained, its current configuration is inadequate to provide the physical requirements or academic climate required for college-level instruction.”[47] Some members of the board were dismayed with the building, and suggested it would be easier to demolish the school and build an entirely new building. “I went there. It was a piece of junk 25 years ago,” Board Member Lewis A. McMurran III told the press.[48] These and similar sentiments circulated through the community, instantly creating backlash. CNU was called a “spoiled child” by the press, and legislators told Santoro, “Don’t you dare tear down a building we just paid $10 million for.”[49] Basic renovations would cost approximately $3 million. However, the Ferguson sale had come with a caveat. Senate Committee Chairman Andrews had privately warned Santoro that if he asked for any additional money to renovate the building, “this money is gone,” and the entire sale would be cancelled.[50] This came at a point where CNU had not been doing well overall, with a recent slump in enrollment, a dwindling state budget, and low morale across its campus. The problems with the Ferguson acquisition did not help matters. With fewer and fewer options available to him, Santoro announced his intention to resign for the coming year. New leadership, and a new direction, was needed for the university. Future plans on what to do with Ferguson would be decided by the next president. [51]

On January 2, 1996, Paul Trible, Jr. became CNU’s fifth president. He had served as both a U.S. Congressman and Senator for the Commonwealth of Virginia. He had joined CNU’s Board of Visitors in 1994 and had fallen in love with the school. He saw a potential as to where CNU could go. As soon as he took office, Trible started to get the ball rolling. Six days into his presidency, he met with a group of state legislators, campaigning for CNU to be allocated more money in the budget. He continued to improve CNU’s visibility and relationship with the General Assembly throughout the legislative session. When the budget was drafted, CNU received a 21.4% increase in funds. $3.2 million was earmarked just for CNU to renovate Ferguson. CNU and Trible were able to achieve so much success due to Delegate Alan Diamonstein’s help within the Assembly. “Alan carried the day for us,” said Trible.[52]
 
On March 20, Trible publicly announced his comprehensive plan Vision 2002 to raise Christopher Newport University to new heights in the next six years. As part of his plan, Trible intended to convert Ferguson High School into a performing arts center, one that would benefit the whole Peninsula community. “Ours is the only community of any consequence that also lacks a venue for the performing arts,” Trible said, “We must help shape the cultural life of this community.” In support, the General Assembly promised $5 million towards the new center.[53]
 
The dream of a large performing arts center on the Peninsula had been around for decades. Joint Hampton-Newport News committees had formed in the '60’s and early '90’s to try to make it a reality. Christopher Newport’s second president James Windsor attempted to build one at the college in the late '70’s. He even went as far as ordering architectural plans drafted and a model created. All of these pursuits failed to make much headway. Raising enough money ultimately became the largest obstacle.[54]
 
While Ferguson’s possible future was dreamed up by the university, the high school prepared for its final year. Alumni, students, and staff joined together to reminisce, mourn, and celebrate their high school one last time. For homecoming, the large crowd of alumni present were brought onto the field during halftime to be recognized and welcome the football team back for the second half. Former Miss Mariner crown holders were invited to the school’s final pageant for one last walk on the runway. The school divested itself of many of the items that it had accumulated over the years. Student athletes were allowed to purchase their sports jerseys. Unclaimed uniforms were sold off during games for fans and alumni. Towards the end of the school year, trophies and other memorabilia were sold in a community auction. The proceeds from the auction were given to Woodside and Heritage High Schools to help with their openings. 70 of the awards, including the 1978 state basketball trophy, were held onto by the school system to be placed into a planned permanent display at Heritage High School. The awards, personal items, and portrait of Homer L. Ferguson were returned to his living family members.[55]
 
After 35 years, Ferguson High’s bell rang its last time for students on June 13, 1996. “The last day of school took on a whole new meaning, as the building’s doors were locked, the last time,” wrote the final Ferguson High yearbook.[56] Graduation for the senior class was held June 17. The remaining student body of Ferguson was transferred to either Heritage or Warwick High School to finish out the rest of their high school years.[57]
 
At the stroke of midnight on June 30, 1996, ownership of Homer L. Ferguson High School officially transferred to Christopher Newport University. The building was renamed Ferguson Hall, in honor of the high school and Homer L. Ferguson. While CNU did receive funds to renovate, a serious renovation to address all of the building’s issues was not possible right away. “In an old building, knocking down walls stirs up asbestos. We cannot renovate without closing the building down,” Provost Robert Doane explained.[58] As the school was ending its lease on space in the 4-story Crestar Building, CNU was in dire need of more classroom space. An extensive renovation would have to come later. In preparation for its first semester of college, however, the building was thoroughly cleaned. Phone and computer lines were installed throughout the building, and new desks were brought in. Along with ample amounts of classrooms, CNU’s departments of Fine & Performing Arts, English, Government, Philosophy, and Modern Language moved their offices to the building. Many administrative and support offices moved in as well, including the Writing Center, the Southeastern Virginia Regional Free-Net (SEVAnet), the English as a Second Language program, the Payroll Office, the Personnel Office, and CNU On-line.[59]
 
Ferguson’s first college students were greeted with an unflattering old-school smell. “One sniff assaults the nostrils in a way that neither Ringling Brothers nor the SPCA could ever match,” described student Karen DiGiorgio.[60] It was evident the building still needed work. The roof leaked, the air conditioning was unreliable, and a lack of insulation made the building hard to heat. Ferguson Hall also initially lacked any amenities other than bathrooms. There were no food options nearby – hungry students either had to trek off-campus or cross Shoe Lane back to the main campus, where the dining halls were located on the opposite ends of campus from Ferguson. Former congregating spaces in the high school, such as the library and cafeteria, were left empty and devoid of use. Students noted there weren’t any copy machines or seats available in hallways or common areas. “The building itself is not very hospitable,” noted student Misty Mick, “CNU risks furthering the idea that it’s ‘not a real college’ by operating out of Ferguson.”[61]
 
The only department that seemed to positively receive Ferguson was Athletics. CNU only had a track and field, tennis courts, and Ratcliffe Gym, the school’s original gymnasium that was no longer adequately-sized for the college’s needs. Ferguson brought CNU more indoor gym space, tennis courts, a softball field, and a baseball field. The college had previously been using sports fields around Newport News, including Ferguson's, to substitute its athletic insufficiencies. Having these fields now located on campus became an important asset to the teams and sports-loving students.[62]

 
Conditions in Ferguson Hall did improve over its first year. Places to sit were added in time. The Student Government Association successfully converted the library into a student lounge with study rooms, club offices, and a game room. Amenities, such as a computer lab, copy machines, and a convenience store with food options became available in the building.[63]
 
As students adjusted to their present space, CNU continued planning for the hall’s future as a performing arts center. Over the summer of 1996, CNU announced a call for architectural proposals. Out of the 19 proposals it received, the selection committee unanimously chose noted architectural firm Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. Past works by the group included the Louvre’s pyramid expansion in Paris, France, the East Wing of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. “We decided that we wanted to build an architectural masterpiece, as well as a world-class facility. We knew that if we hired this firm, that’s precisely what we’d get,” said Trible.[64] The project was led by Henry Cobb, a founding member of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. The Architects of Record for the project were the Hanbury Evans Newill Vlattas & Company architectural firm of Norfolk, Virginia.[65]
 
The center’s preliminary designs were unveiled March 1997. A third of the original Ferguson building would be demolished, while the rest of it would be incorporated into the new design. A brand new 1,750-seat concert hall would be attached to the eastern side of the building. The western side would have a 500-seat proscenium theater and a 200-seat studio theater. The concert hall and theater were to be endowed with impressive, state-of-the-art acoustics, designed by Kirkegaard & Associates. Situated in front of the existing Ferguson façade, a two-story curving colonnade would link the building together with its 900-car parking deck on the western side. “[The colonnade] is intended to artistically represent a ship’s sail,” explained Bill Brauer, CNU’s Executive Vice President, “Each column in the colonnade is made up of two ‘sails’ that are full of wind … at night, the light that comes down from above creates a column of light in the gap between the two ‘sails.’”[66] The three clustered gyms in the back would become a fine arts center with 25,000 square feet of exhibition space. The remaining Ferguson spaces would be renovated to be used as performance support spaces, classrooms, and offices. “We’ve kept the core of the old building and enveloped it as a new creation,” Trible said. He hoped to open the building with a spectacular party on December 31, 1999 to herald in the new millennium, the new center, and the new CNU.[67]
 
The only thing that could hold up plans was raising the necessary funds. The center was originally said to cost between $15 - $25 million dollars. A year later, that estimate became $30 million. While the General Assembly did not provide additional fiscal support towards the center in 1997, they did authorize the university the ability to start raising its own funds for the project. Local municipalities started pledging money towards its creation. Newport News committed to over $5 million. The City of Hampton sent in $1 million, and York County gave $400,000 towards the center. Later on, Poquoson also chipped in with $100,000.[68]
 
Christopher Newport also solicited gifts from corporations and individuals. In May 1998, local businessman Robert Freeman and his family donated $1 million towards the Center for the Arts, the largest private gift CNU had ever received. Later that same year, CNU received another $1 million, this time from Ferguson Enterprises, Inc. Ferguson Enterprises (co-founded by Charles Ferguson, one of Homer L. Ferguson’s sons) was a national plumbing supply company headquartered in Newport News. Two Ferguson Enterprises officials had previously been appointed to CNU’s Board of Visitors, including former Ferguson CEO David Peebles. Another $1 million for the Center for the Arts would come from Pepsi Cola. In exchange, Pepsi became the exclusive provider of beverages for CNU.[69] 

As funds were raised for the building, plans were also in the works to redevelop Ferguson’s grounds. As part of a state project to widen Warwick Boulevard, an amendment was added to its proposal in 1996 to reroute Shoe Lane. As it had been, Shoe Lane shot between Ferguson Hall and CNU’s main campus to reach Warwick Boulevard. Warwick was frequently congested between its two close intersections with Shoe Lane & J. Clyde Boulevard. The proposed reroute would discontinue the first few hundred yards of Shoe Lane and cut off its connection to Warwick. A new roadway would start at the Warwick and J. Clyde intersection. Connecting to Museum Drive, the road would curve behind Ferguson and cut through the former high school’s athletic fields. It would then end in a roundabout, with connections to a new CNU entranceway and the remaining roadway of Shoe Lane. Earthen berms would be laid to minimize road noise to the residential houses that would border the new road. The new roadway would make it safter for pedestrians travelling from Ferguson to Christopher Newport’s main campus. It would also alleviate traffic congestion on Warwick & the local residential roads when the university and future arts center held events. Last but not least, CNU would get an impressive new entrance roadway.[70]
 
While this pleased the University, many local residents were not happy with this change. They feared the exact opposite would occur – traffic would get worse, and their neighborhoods would suffer. A “Save Shoe Lane” campaign started to gain traction. The University geared up as well, circling petitions to staff and students and rallying support in favor of the reroute. While both sides showed up to City Council meetings in full force, the City Council approved the Shoe Lane plan. The amendment would continue to be debated at higher levels and different departments for years, reaching approval at every step. Its final approval hurdle was overcome January 2001 when the Virginia Commonwealth Transportation Board unanimously approved Warwick Boulevard’s widening and the Shoe Lane amendment. Construction on the roadway began in 2003.[71]
 
Ferguson Hall continued to serve CNU in its lightly renovated form. With its extra square footage, CNU used it as a flexible, catch-all space. Partnerships and collaborations were tested out within its walls. The Hampton Roads Regional Academy of Criminal Justice rented the hall’s annex and cafeteria for classes, sometimes holding training exercises outside on the grounds. Virginia Educators Credit Union opened a branch inside, open at select hours to coincide with peak student traffic hours. CNU even experimented with hosting college-level classes for Newport News high school students there.[72]
 
Students found their own ways of using the building. The Student Government Association brought ska-band Fighting Gravity to perform in the Main Gym as part of the 1999 homecoming celebration. WCNU, the student-run radio station, established a recording studio in the building. Theater majors even converted one of the smaller gyms into a black-box theater space called the Shoebox Theatre for a senior thesis project. Students could be found in the building at all hours. Recalled student Danny Devlin, “There were various ways into and out of the building. Once inside, there were no rules. People used to skateboard and ride bikes in the hall.”[73]
 
December 31st, 1999 came and went. “Like the mystical El Dorado, the Center for the Performing Arts has been alluded to, but never seen by human eyes,” wrote one student news editorial.[74] No physical work on the Center for the Arts had started except for a billboard alongside the road, advertising the future facility. Fundraising had taken more time than previously thought. The school had raised $23 million for the performance hall towards the turn of the century. At the same time, the project’s cost had grown to $45-50 million. “The immense size and complexity of the project requires the expenditure of a lot of money,” explained Trible. “We set out to build a world-class facility, and that turns out to be a very expensive proposition. When we set out … we had no idea how much something like this would really cost.”[75] More money continued to be pledged. In addition to private gifts, the state appropriated more money towards the project. Trible also tapped Virginia’s U.S. Senators George Allen & John Warner for help. They were able to include $1 million for the center in a federal appropriations bill.[76]
 
As funding goals got closer to being met, action plans were devised to reduce the need for Ferguson’s classroom space during its transformation. In 2000, the Freeman Sports and Convocation Center opened, named in recognition of the Freeman family’s large gift for the Center for the Arts. Once it did, Ratcliffe Gym was given a $5 million renovation to be converted into a two-story academic building with classrooms, offices, and athletic support spaces. The English department, Writing Center, and Government offices moved there in the Fall of 2001. “Since I first walked into Ratcliffe, I have felt no sense of nostalgia for Ferguson,” said Dr. Pollard of the English Department, “I do not miss Ferguson’s often broken air conditioners or the sagging ceiling tiles that could fall on your head.”[77] CNU also acquired nearby buildings, office parks, and houses for temporary admin/classroom spaces.[78]
 
After 5 years of fundraising, CNU achieved what many considered impossible: it had raised enough money to begin construction on its Center for the Arts. The dream for a performing arts center on the Peninsula would finally come true. Work started on the site January 2002. A Foundation Placement Ceremony was held April 17, 2002 to formally celebrate the groundbreaking. Attendees signed their names into a freshly-poured slab of concrete. The center was built in two phases, denoted by the Ferguson’s clock tower. In Phase I, everything to the right of the tower closed for renovation. The left/eastern half of the hall remained open, holding classroom space for the ROTC, Nursing Labs, and Fine and Performing Arts Departments. A year later, Phase II began, closing the entire building and demolishing everything to the left of the clock tower. Out of the rubble of Ferguson High’s auditorium, music rooms, and tech shops, the 1,700-seat concert hall began to rise.[79]

 
Some design features had evolved since the first envisioning. Trible had not been happy about the idea of placing a multi-level parking deck in the middle of the campus. Therefore, it was moved to a location behind the Center. Without a parking deck out front, the colonnade’s planned length was cut in half.[80] Another change involved budgetary reasons. As the price for the Center for the Arts kept growing, some aspects had to be deferred or left off entirely. The fine arts’ exhibit center was the largest of these cuts. The smaller gyms that were to house this wing were not renovated, instead sealed off for possible future expansions.

In December 2003, CNU announced the center’s official name. Along with giving their initial $1 million in 1998, Ferguson Enterprises and their employees gave another combined $1.6 million gift towards the center. As thanks, CNU named the building the Ferguson Center for the Arts. Announced simultaneously with the naming of the center was the naming of the center’s Executive Director. After a nationwide search, William Biddle was appointed to the role. Biddle had previously been the Director of the Miller Auditorium at West Michigan University, revitalizing that hall’s programming to be profitable and vibrant.[81]
 
Construction would continue on…
 
 

Ferguson Center. Photo by A.J. Jelonek

FERGUSON REBORN
 
On September 1, 2004, concertgoers entered the Ferguson Center’s 440-seat Music & Theater Hall for the first time. For the inaugural performance, the CNU Jazz Ensemble opened for Tony Bennett and his quartet. Tickets for the performance had sold out a half hour after they went on sale.[82] As former Mayor Joe Frank recalled,

"After a few songs, [Bennett] told the technical people to turn off the sound system. As I recall it, he said, 'I have sung in thousands of places around the world, and I've never performed in a place where the acoustics are as good as this hall.’ At the end of the evening Trible got onstage, put his arm around Bennett, and said, 'You've managed to do what no one else has done, which is make an honest man out of a politician.'"[83]

Phase I of the Ferguson Center had opened to staff and students in late Summer 2004. Next to the new Music & Theater Hall, Ferguson High School’s main gym had been retained. Subdivided with new interior walls, the space now held a theater rehearsal hall, a set design shop, a light experimentation lab, and the 200-seat black box Studio Theater. Nearby, the old cafeteria had been converted into a dance rehearsal space, art classrooms, dressing rooms, a costume shop, prop storage, a green room space, and the relocated Falk Gallery. The school’s former library was doomed to be never quiet again, instead filled with music classrooms and practice spaces. The building’s second-largest gym, Warwick Junior’s original main gym, became a large music rehearsal room. Classrooms around the building were converted into offices, practice spaces, as well as classrooms, both specialized and general-use.[84]

                                                   
There were still many remnants of the high school present. “It’s really weird because I remember and I see the old building,” said student Greg Poljacik, “You walk around and have nice walls built up, then you walk into an old Ferguson bathroom.”[85] Some elements were incorporated into the renovated design, such as the terrazzo floors, the glass block windows, and the main structure of the building. Other features were hidden away. The old school’s lockers were reportedly left in place, able to be rattled behind new drywall. The new colonnade was built in front of the remaining portion of the high school’s front façade. The back of the building was blocked from view by earthen berms covered with landscaping.
 
In December, the Shoe Lane reroute was completed. With its roundabout being one of the first in the area, the Virginia Department of Transportation and Newport News spent months ahead of time educating locals and the university population on roundabout traffic rules. In an effort to connect the various museums and cultural institutions along the same road, the City of Newport News ceremoniously branded the new route the Avenue of the Arts.[86]
 
The departments of theater and music mainly used the new theater spaces, but Executive Director Biddle also used them for some ticketed programming. This pre-Concert Hall season consisted of only 10 performances, giving a taste of what future Concert Hall seasons could bring to the Peninsula.[87]
 
With the Concert Hall’s grand opening firmly set for September 12, 2005, Phase II construction continued on the other side of the Center. As the date creeped closer, work was amped up. The final months of the summer saw construction schedules transition from 6 to 7 days-a-week. Some workers were asked to pull double shifts in one day. "This, by far, is the most challenging and most complex project I've been involved in, and I think almost anyone involved with the project would say the same thing," said Ron Lauster, one of the Center’s project managers.[88] Fortunately, construction was able to finish on time. The total cost of construction ended up being $57.5 million.[89]
 
The opening season was one with many stars: The Irish Tenors, Bruce Hornsby, another night with Tony Bennett, B.B. King, among others. Biddle pulled out all the stops, programming a variety of genres to see what people would like. Between musicals from Broadway and classical concerts from the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, there was something for everyone. The Concert Hall’s inaugural concert featured Broadway star Michael Crawford and the New York Pops led by Skitch Henderson. Like the Music & Theater Hall before it, the Concert Hall received rave reviews for its beauty, acoustics, and its impact on the Peninsula. The Daily Press editorialized, “The word ‘transformative’ is getting used too much of late, a buzzword to describe what sometimes seems little more than repositioning the shrubbery. But to go into the new concert hall is to be reminded of what transformative really means.”[90]
 
The signature high moment of the season was the October 20, 2005 Andrea Bocelli concert. After over a year of negotiations, Biddle was able to book the world-famous opera singer for a rare U.S. performance at the center. Tickets to the premium performance were set between $175-$300. This did not prevent the show from selling out. The day before the performance, after meeting at a scholarship luncheon, Bocelli invited CNU music senior Anthony Colosimo to share the stage with him. At the concert, Colosimo sang “La Serenata,” to a standing ovation by the audience and Bocelli. The rest of the evening, Bocelli wowed the audience. It was a night to remember.[91]
 
That first season, the Ferguson made $3.5 million in tickets. While the average ticket price was $35 and topped out around $75, some patrons surmised that prices were too high and the Center was elitist. The Ferguson Center countered these perceptions by starting to offer moderately-priced shows. Some family-friendly shows offered $9-$15 tickets. The center also offered discounted and complimentary tickets to local schools, Boys & Girls Clubs, and An Achievable Dream. Current CNU students also received discounts – most notably $30 tickets offered to the Andrea Bocelli concert.[92]
 
At the end of the year, the Daily Press’ Arts Reporter David Nicholson opined:

 “This year belongs, in large part, to Christopher Newport University, which changed the cultural landscape with the opening of its concert hall in the Ferguson Center for the Arts. For decades, Peninsula arts patrons had been traveling to Norfolk for Broadway shows, operas and symphony orchestra concerts. With its excellent acoustics and spectacular lineup of guest artists, the hall had South Hampton Roads residents flocking to our side of the water. It also invigorated the Peninsula arts community.”[93]

The Ferguson Center was awarded Excellence in Design from the Hampton Roads American Institute of Architecture. It won grand prize in College Planning & Management magazine’s Education Design Showcase, as well as the Louis I. Kahn award for American School & University magazine. It was also selected as one of 15 projects to be represented in the United States’ exhibit “Performance Spaces for a New Generation: Training Facilities for the Performing Arts in the United States” for the 2007 International Prague Quadrennial.[94]
 
To honor the 400^th anniversary of the establishment of Jamestown, the first permanent English colony in the Americas, the region celebrated with the Jamestown Celebration in 2007. As Christopher Newport University was named after one of the captains of the initial Jamestown voyage, the school got in on the action as well. The Ferguson Center served as the venue for many lectures and special performances throughout the celebration. TheaterCNU Professor Steven Breese wrote and directed Actus Fidei, a musical weaving the life of Christopher Newport in the past and present. With music by Professor Joseph Pollard White, Broadway actor John Michalski playing Newport, and a cast of 27 students playing 60 other roles, it premiered at the Ferguson Center.[95]
 
That same year, the Ferguson Center added another theater to its roster. In March, John and Esther Mable Yoder gifted their Yoder Barn Theatre to CNU. The barn had been part of the family’s dairy farm a few miles away from CNU. In 1996, the Yoders converted it into a community theater space. With the gift of the $4.1 million theater, CNU planned to use it for a summer theater repertory company, the home of CNU’s Lifelong Learning Society, and other school functions. On the public performances side, the Yoder would focus on smaller, community-priced shows. “We also want to present things that you don’t see in our Concert Hall, things that may be a little more experimental,” said Bill Biddle, “It’s a nontraditional space, so we’re trying to think outside of the box.”[96]

Before the barn could open under CNU’s operation, the building had to undergo extensive renovations to bring it up to code. A September 2007 opening was planned. Close to the opening, it was discovered the building occupancy had only ever been for 75 people total, a space that had previously held 300+ size crowds. Extra safety renovations had to be performed, pushing back the opening until February 2008. Shows that had been scheduled for the Yoder were moved to the Ferguson’s stages, pending availability. When it finally opened, the Yoder hosted five days of free performances to welcome the community. A few months later, it premiered the first summer of Tidewater Regional Repertory Theatre, its professional summer rep theater. CNU students, faculty, and others from general auditions came together to put on three productions. The Ferguson’s fourth theater was finally in business.[97]

The troubles, however, were not over. The 2008 economic recession took a toll on the performing arts center. State and local grants were cut back, and ticket sales stayed few and far between. By summer 2009, the Ferguson Center owed a deficit of $450,000. The cost was covered by CNU, but the Center would eventually have to pay the school back. Cuts were made to soften future blows. The 2009-2010 season was reduced to around 25 shows, compared to 62 performances during the 2007-08 year. Tidewater Regional Repertory Theatre was shelved indefinitely, while the Yoder stopped presenting any ticketed performances. Staff vacancies were kept open, and housekeeping was reduced overall. “I’m not sure what will sell anymore,” said Biddle at the time, “I’ve been in this business for more than 20 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this.”[98] The Center’s budget reduction measures would help it weather the rest of the recession. By Summer 2010, Biddle was cautiously optimistic, adding more shows to the upcoming season. "We've turned things around from last year and are looking at a small profit," Biddle reported.[99] The Ferguson would eventually climb back to pre-recession show numbers, even hitting its one millionth guest on March 27, 2011.[100]
 
When the Ferguson was transformed into the Center, one of the former high school’s courtyards survived the conversion. TheaterCNU’s scenic director Professor George Hillow and CNU landscape designer Bob Goodheart came up with a plan to repurpose it. With the help of dedicated student volunteers and community members, they started to transform the barren space in 2005. The garden was slowly but diligently worked on, adding drainage, re-grading the ground, adding a patio, plants, and a wooden half-circle pergola. All of its $40,000 cost was privately funded. The CNU Class of 2008 also stepped in and donated a fountain for the space as part of their class gift. When it opened in 2010, it was named the Arts Garden. “It’s meant to be a place to celebrate the arts,” said Hillow, “A place for quiet repose, meditation, studying, horsing around, rehearsals, performances… hold outdoor classes.”[101] The Arts Garden became a beloved hidden oasis within the Ferguson. Hillow stayed actively involved in its gardening and maintenance. Upon Hillow’s retirement in 2017, President Trible ceremoniously renamed the space the George Joseph Hillow III Arts Garden.
 
In spring 2013, Ferguson Enterprises continued their commitment to CNU and the arts center by donating $12 million, another record-breaking donation to the university. $10 million went towards the operations and programming of the center. The remaining amount went to arts scholarships and CNU’s Center for Community Engagement. "[Ferguson Enterprises] are a model for good corporate citizenship," said Trible, "They encourage their people to be actively involved in the community." The gift also ensured Ferguson would keep their naming rights over the center through 2042.[102]
 
A few months later, CNU’s Department of Music debuted its Torggler Vocal Institute, an annual summer music intensive. It was named after and funded by George and Mary Torggler, CNU parents and avid arts supporters. The Institute helped train high school and college students through two weeks full of vocal lessons, master classes, workshops, and performances. Top vocalists of different fields were brought in to give students a well-rounded musical experience.[103]
 
In 2015, the Ferguson Center celebrated 10 years of operation. At the same time, Bill Biddle left the helm of the Ferguson for the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts at Long Island University. Bruce Bronstein became the center’s next Executive Director. With a background in performing, talent booking, and marketing, Bronstein had initially been brought on by Biddle as the Ferguson’s first Director of Communications in 2005. Now as the Executive Director, Bronstein planned to continue the Ferguson’s mix of performing genres and artists. "I've seen the role the arts can play in being transformative in the lives of students and the community. What a great honor to be a part of that,” Bronstein said. “Bill created something very successful here through hard work. My responsibility is to be a good steward."[104]
 
Soon thereafter, the Ferguson theater spaces were rechristened. In 2016, the Concert Hall became the Alan and Beverly Diamonstein Concert Hall, and the Music & Theater Hall was renamed the David & Mary Peebles Theatre. These naming honors were awarded to both of these families due to their leadership and support towards CNU, the arts, and the Peninsula community.[105]
 
On December 10, 2016, the Ferguson Center hosted the 20/40/70 Celebration. The gala and night of performances was in honor of President Trible’s 20^th year as President of CNU, his 40^th year of public service in Virginia, and his 70^th birthday. "This university has been at the forefront of progress in Newport News and the Peninsula for half a century, and Paul's leadership and vision has been the driving force of that success," former Newport News Mayor Joe Frank extolled that night.[106]
 
As the success of the Ferguson Center and other CNU endeavors led to additional buildings and improvements across campus, CNU eventually looked back to the Ferguson to revive its plans for a fine arts exhibit center along the back of the building. During the design process of this new addition, the proposed location was determined to be too tight to fit everything needed for the center. It was then decided to move it to the western side of the Ferguson, where a ground parking lot was located. The fine arts center, later named the Mary M. Torggler Center, would straddle the border of architectural styles on campus – the campus-facing side would exhibit a three-story Neo-Georgian façade with columns, while the Ferguson-facing side would match the performing arts building’s modern contemporary style. While separate buildings, they would be attached by a continuation of the Ferguson colonnade. This would allow for the colonnade to finally extend to the length that Pei Cobb Freed & Partners had originally envisioned. The Torggler’s groundbreaking was held in January 2019, with an opening set for 2021.[107]

Ferguson Center. Photo by A.J. Jelonek

 
THE UNFINISHED PRESENT
 
In the early parts of 2020, the highly-contagious COVID-19 airborne virus spread to become a global pandemic. It soon reached the United States, and then Christopher Newport University. On March 13, 2020 CNU sent its students home, having cancelled all in-person classes and events the day before. The Ferguson Center also announced that all of its performances would be cancelled through April 13. Three days later, it cancelled the remaining spring shows of its season. In mid-April, the Center optimistically started announcing rescheduled performances would take place in the fall. As the months went on, these too would also be cancelled. Patrons were given refunds for all ticket purchases.[108]
 
Over the summer, CNU developed health and safety protocols to be able to safely bring students back to campus. Students returned for the fall semester to a changed campus environment. Face masks were required to be worn indoors. Campus was closed to individuals not actively enrolled or employed by CNU. Many of the larger spaces in the Ferguson Center were repurposed as classroom spaces to allow for larger class sizes with social distancing. The Peebles Theatre lobby was used as a pop-up dining location that took students’ meal orders in advance. In the spring semester, an outdoor socialization event called Fireside Lounges utilized the top level of the Ferguson parking deck. Without evening performances, the large, underutilized deck had plenty of space and a captivating view of the CNU skyline.[109]
 
Despite the pandemic, fine & performing arts students continued to hone and present their craft. The postponed Spring 2020 Senior Thesis Art Major Exhibition finally had its time to shine in the fall semester. Music recitals were presented audience-less, but filmed and uploaded onto a newly-created CNU Music YouTube channel for all to see. Their annual Holiday Happening musical extravaganza was broadcast on local television for the first time. Theater students performed a socially-distant production of the 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee in the Diamonstein Concert Hall. Performers were separated from each other with plexiglass partitions. Only CNU students and staff were allowed to attend the performances. Another production, The Living, a play coincidentally about a 17^th century plague, took place over a Zoom webinar. The Diamonstein Concert Hall programming also pivoted during this time. They celebrated the center’s 15^th anniversary with a short video series highlighting some of the acts and shows that had graced the stage over the years. They also partnered with Broadway composer Drew Gasparini on “Drew Gasparini’s New Voices,” a free virtual concert series showcasing up-and-coming artists and composers each month.[110]
 
Largely unhindered by the global pandemic, the Torggler Center opened as planned in 2021. Once the fine arts department moved into their new building, their former spaces around the Ferguson were reallocated to the Music and Theater departments. The Ferguson also saw its own share of smaller construction projects. The original Warwick Junior High main gym, previously only painted and carpeted for band rehearsal space and theater storage, would be acoustically renovated to become a proper band rehearsal room. One of the two smaller, closed-off gyms was demolished, while the other was renovated into offices and more music rehearsal space.[111]
 
As vaccines became available and COVID infections started to drop in the United States, theaters slowly became community gathering points again. On May 14, 2021, the Virginia Symphony Orchestra held the Diamonstein Concert Hall’s first ticketed performance open to public attendance. Guests were welcomed back with a different experience than they had been previously used to. Valet, concessions, and the golf cart shuttle service were all unavailable. Guests were assigned specific concert lobby entry doors to enter the building. Guests could choose the price points for their seats, but their specific seat was assigned for them to socially distance groups.[112]
 
For the Summer 2021, the Ferguson Center announced it would start to allow full-capacity seating at its performances. Only guests who had not been fully vaccinated were required to wear a face covering inside. It also launched a new summer program, The New Musicals Lab. This incubation program would provide space for in-progress musicals to be developed and presented. The Lab’s first summer helped with the creation of eight new musicals.[113]

As the fall approached, more contagious variants of the COVID virus spread throughout the United States. As these occurred, the Ferguson made mask wearing required for all, regardless of vaccination status. Once these particular variants waned by March 2022, the mask policies were relaxed again, and the Ferguson’s pre-pandemic services were restored.[114]
 
 
With that, we have reached the present. The conclusion of this historic moment is still unfolding. It’s not an ideal place to wrap up, but this is where we are.

It has been 16 years since the opening of the Ferguson Center. 26 years since the building’s ownership transferred to Christopher Newport University. 51 years since its student body started to be bused to enforce desegregation. 61 years since the Junior High became a High School. And it has been 66 years since the school first started teaching its first students. The story of the Ferguson is one of adapting to a changing landscape, of always being a center for learning, and of becoming a beacon for the arts on the Peninsula. May it continue to do so.

In memory of Amy Boykin. A Librarian, a Captain, a Friend.

Companion Articles

What Remains of Ferguson High School?

Ferguson: The Cuts, the Extras, and MORE!

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[1]“History of Consolidation.” Newport News, VA - Official Website, https://www.nnva.gov//282/History-of-Consolidation; Bureau of Public Administration, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, 1956, A Report on the Advantages and Disadvantages of Consolidating the Hampton, Newport News, and Warwick Public School Systems; Public Law 815; 64 Stat. 967, 81^st Congress of the United States, 1950. www.scribd.com/fullscreen/49333578?access_key=key-3bi0uh82bby4p7tcpby&allow_share=true&escape=false&view_mode=scroll; Warwick County School Board. Regular Meeting. 15 April 1952.
[2] City of Warwick School Board. Regular Meeting. 9 June 1954; “Shoe Lane Site To Be Acquired For Junior High,” Times-Herald, 9 December 1954; Mayo, Samuel N. Warwick Junior High School, Site Clearing Plan. 22 July 1955. CNU Architects’ Office; Knight, J.H. “Court To Decide Fair Price For Proposed School Site,” New Journal and Guide, 15 January 1955.
[3] Knight, J.H. “Court To Decide Fair Price For Proposed School Site,” New Journal and Guide, 15 January 1955; “Shoe Lane Site To Be Acquired For Junior High,” Times-Herald, 9 December 1954.
[4] City of Warwick School Board. Regular Meeting. 8 December 1954. Superintendent’s Office, Newport News Public Schools, hereinafter referred to as NNPS.
[5] Knight, J.H. “Court To Decide Fair Price For Proposed School Site,” New Journal and Guide, 15 January 1955; “Board Acquires Last Acreage Needed For Warwick School Site,” Daily Press, 27 May 1955.
[6]“Plans Underway For New Warwick Junior High School,” Daily Press, 18 September 1955.
[7] City of Warwick School Board. Regular Meeting. 10 September 1955. Superintendent’s Office, NNPS; “Junior High in Warwick is Accepted,” Daily Press, 9 March 1957; “Award of Contract On New $1,300,000 Warwick Junior High School Due Soon,” Daily Press, 18 September 1955; City of Warwick School Board. Regular Meeting. 23 February 1955. Superintendent’s Office, NNPS.
[8]“Public Schools In All Three Area Cities To Be In Session Today,” Daily Press, 6 September 1956; City of Warwick School Board. Regular Meeting. 10 October 1956. Superintendent’s Office, NNPS; City of Warwick School Board. Regular Meeting. 8 March 1957. Superintendent’s Office, NNPS; Warwick Junior High School. The Cavalier,1959. Print. Virginiana Room, Newport News Public Library.
[9] Eskridge, Sara Kathryn, “Virginia's Pupil Placement Board and the Massive Resistance Movement, 1956-1966” 2006, VCU Thesis; “With Resistance” Daily Press, 9 May 2004.
[10] City of Warwick School Board. Regular Meeting. 9 October 1957. Superintendent’s Office, NNPS; Le Moal, David, “Consolidation: Race, politics and suburbanization in the Newport News-Warwick merger,” 2018. Masters Theses. 629. https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/master201019/629; Bureau of Public Administration, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, 1956, A Report on the Advantages and Disadvantages of Consolidating the Hampton, Newport News, and Warwick Public School Systems.
[11] Warwick Junior High School. The Cavalier, 1961. Print. Virginiana Room, Newport News Public Library; City of Warwick School Board. Regular Meeting. 13 November 1957. Superintendent’s Office, NNPS; City of Newport News School Board. Regular Meeting. 18 August 1960. Superintendent’s Office, NNPS.
[12] City of Newport News School Board. Regular Meeting. 20 October 1960. Superintendent’s Office, NNPS.
[13] City of Newport News School Board. Regular Meeting.15 December 1960. Superintendent’s Office, NNPS; “New High School May Bear Name of Homer L. Ferguson,” Daily Press. 18 February 1961; Erickson, Mark St. John. “Shipbuilding boss Homer L. Ferguson shaped yard and region.” Daily Press, 18 July 2015; Ferguson High School. The Mariner, 1962. Print. Virginiana Room, Newport News Public Library; Christian, Ralph J. “Hilton Village Historic District,” National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, June 1979, https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/VLR_to_transfer/PDFNoms/121-0009_Hilton_Village_1969_Final_Nomination.pdf, accessed 7 November 2021; City of Newport News School Board. Regular Meeting. 23 March 1961.
[14] City of Newport News School Board. Regular Meeting. 17 November 1960; Ferguson High School. The Mariner, 1962. Print. Virginiana Room, Newport News Public Library.
[15] Ferguson High School. The Mariner, 1962. Print. Virginiana Room, Newport News Public Library; Ferguson High School. The Mariner, 1970. Print. Virginiana Room, Newport News Public Library; Ferguson High School. The Mariner, 1996. Print. Virginiana Room, Newport News Public Library; Willoz-Egnor, Jeanne. Mariners’ Museum email correspondence, December 2014; Joyce, Skipper. Ferguson High School Class of 1963 phone correspondence. 7 May 2021.
[16] City of Newport News School Board. Regular Meeting. 15 November 1962; “Two Negroes Assigned To High School,” Daily Press, 18 May 1963.
[17] School Board of the City of Newport News. Regular Meeting. 17 August 1967.
[18] City of Newport News School Board. Regular Meeting. 15 August 1963; Christopher Newport College, The Trident, 1965. Print. Archives, Paul and Rosemary Trible Library; City of Newport News School Board. Regular Meeting. 17 December 1964; Ferguson High School. The Mariner, 1967. Print. Virginiana Room, Newport News Public Library; City of Newport News School Board. Regular Meeting. 16 September 1965.
[19] “School Board Names Passage, Fleet Giedemann, Underwood To Top Posts,” Daily Press, 30 July 1965.
[20] Barrett, Stephanie. “Her Namesake School Will Forever Bear Mary Passage's Devotion.” Daily Press, 12 Feb. 2000, https://web.archive.org/web/20180626084917/http://passage.nn.k12.va.us/about.html. Accessed 26 June 2018.
[21] Atkinson, Susan, “School Board Approves Transfer Of 27 Negroes To 4 White Units.” Daily Press, 10 August 1962; Keyser, Seridan T. “Newport News School Board Transfers 24 Negro Pupils to Formerly White Schools,” Daily Press. 19 July 1963; City of Newport News School Board. Regular Meeting. 17 June 1965; Quarstein, John V., and Parke S. Rouse. “Chapter X: A City for All.” Newport News: A Centennial History, City of Newport News, Newport News, VA, 1996.
[22] School Board of the City of Newport News. Regular Meeting. 15 February 1968; School Board of the City of Newport News. Regular Meeting. Transcript. 27 June 1968; Holt, Jean. “School Board Will Fight HEW Over ‘Choice’ Plan,” Daily Press. 28 June, 1968; United States, Congress, United States Commission on Civil Rights, Virginia State Advisory Committee. School Desegregation in Newport News City, Virginia: a Report, University of Michigan Libraries Collection. May 1977.
[23] School Board of the City of Newport News. Regular Meeting. Transcript. 27 June 1968.
[24] School Board of the City of Newport News. Regular Meeting. 27 June 1968; School Board of the City of Newport News. Regular Meeting. 19 February 1970.
[25] Hammond, Jane, “Resistance and repercussions: How Newport News fought to keep schools segregated.” Daily Press. 11 February 2017; United States, Congress, United States Commission on Civil Rights, Virginia State Advisory Committee. School Desegregation in Newport News City, Virginia: a Report, University of Michigan Libraries Collection. May 1977; “With Resistance” Daily Press, 9 May 2004.
[26] Ibid.
[27] United States, Congress, United States Commission on Civil Rights, Virginia State Advisory Committee. School Desegregation in Newport News City, Virginia: a Report, University of Michigan Libraries Collection. May 1977; Ferguson High School. The Mariner, 1972. Print. Virginiana Room, Newport News Public Library.
[28] Boyte, Sam, “Students, Principals Confer Following Day of Walkouts.” Daily Press. 16 September 1971.
[29] “Youth Charged In High School Arson, Burglary.” Daily Press. 25 January 1972; Ferguson High School. The Mariner, 1972. Print. Virginiana Room, Newport News Public Library; Hammond, Jane, “Resistance and repercussions: Newport News alumni discuss early years of desegregation.” Daily Press. 18 February 2017; Ferguson High School. The Mariner, 1996. Print. Virginiana Room, Newport News Public Library.
[30] Ferguson High School. The Mariner, 1972. Print. Virginiana Room, Newport News Public Library; “Ferguson High School Closing: Ferguson Memories.” Daily Press. 09 June 1996; Johnson, Dave, “How Sports Smoothed Racial Transition.” Daily Press. 23 May 2004.
[31] Miller, Vivian “Vivian Miller Oral History Interview,” YouTube, uploaded by The Say It Loud Project, 2 June 2021.
[32] Fisher, Marianne, “Concert Halted By Fire.” Daily Press. 15 April 1972; “Mariners Observe Homer L. Ferguson’s 100th Birthday” The Windjammer. 6 March 1973; Ferguson High School. The Mariner, 1972. Print. Virginiana Room, Newport News Public Library; “Portrait Replaced.” Daily Press. 6 October 6 1973.
[33] Vol. X Special Issue. The Windjammer. 6 March 1973.
[34] “Ferguson Memories.” Daily Press. 9 June 1996; Johnson, Ernest “Mariners capture State crown,” The Windjammer, 24 March 1978; Robinson, Grant “Robinson recalls game,” The Windjammer, 24 March 1978.
[35] “Ferguson Naval ROTC Activated,” Daily Press, 27 April 1974; Clark, Mike “Fergie gets $.5 million facelift,” The Windjammer, October 1976; “Coed Gym, “The New Experience”,” The Windjammer, December 1978; School Board of the City of Newport News. Regular Session. 21 January 1981.
[36] Gibson, David & Smith, Randy “FHS Principal, 2 Others Killed,” Daily Press, 10 December 1982; Barry, Ann “Walter Given Farewell,” Daily Press, 14 December 1982; School Board of the City of Newport News. Regular Session. 15 December 1982; Raper, Betsy “Pat Quinn – An ‘Artist’ At Work,” Daily Press, 1 May 1983; “Play Nets $1,500,” Daily Press, 24 May 1983; Knott, Tom “Travis: Hopeful, Always Hopeful,” Daily Press, 17 February 1983; School Board of the City of Newport News. Regular Session. 21 March 1984; Freddie L. Travis Obituary, Daily Press, 16 September 2010.
[37] Murray, Phil “Exposure to asbestos suspected,” Daily Press, 21 July 1983; Murray, Phil “Asbestos report was ignored at first,” Daily Press, 12 September 1983; Murray, Phil “5 schools scheduled to be rid of asbestos,” Daily Press, 19 May 1984; Miller, Jeff D. “Schools expect 64,000 students on Peninsula,” Daily Press, 19 August 1984; Ferguson High School. The Mariner, 1996. Print. Virginiana Room, Newport News Public Library; School Board of the City of Newport News, Regular Session, 22 September 1988.
[38] School Board of the City of Newport News, Public Hearing, 12 March 1992; School Board of the City of Newport News, Special Session, 23 March 1992.
[39] Katz, Lisa “NAACP accuses NN schools of bias,” Daily Press, 9 September 1991; Hamilton, Phillip. Serving the Old Dominion: A History of Christopher Newport University 1958-2011. First ed., University Press, 2011.
[40] Colvin, Leonard E “Old fears of displacement still arouse homeowners,” Journal & Guide, 1-7 March 1989; Griffin, Bethanne “Residents Upset over CNC’s plans for expansion,” Daily Press, 26 January 1989; Green, Frank, “Black homeowners sue to stop Newport News college’s growth” Richmond Times-Dispatch, 20 June 1989; Hamilton, Phillip. Serving the Old Dominion: A History of Christopher Newport University 1958-2011. First ed., University Press, 2011; Somerville, Sean “CNC plan for Ferguson: Use it for classes, offices,” Daily Press, 17 November 1989. [Rev. Marcellus Harris: “This college under Dr. Santoro has taken leaps and bounds aggressively pursuing expansion.”].
[41] Hamilton, Phillip. Serving the Old Dominion: A History of Christopher Newport University 1958-2011. First ed., University Press, 2011; “Welcome to Crittenden Middle School!” Crittenden Middle School, Newport News Public Schools, http://crittenden.nn.k12.va.us/about.html, accessed 7 November 2021. [There have been two Hines Middle Schools in this school system, and both of them are still in use. In 1971, Carver High School an Intermediate School. In 1980, it became Homer L. Hines Middle School. In 1990, the building closed for renovations. Shortly after, another middle school was built. This new school was named Hines Middle School. When the older school finished its renovations and reopened, it was renamed Flora D. Crittenden Middle School.]; Somerville, Sean “Plan would sell Ferguson High to CNC,” Daily Press, 16 November 1989.
[42] Somerville, Sean “NN board approves plan to sell school,” Daily Press, 21 December 1989; Somerville, Sean “Officials question proposed high school sale,” The Times-Herald, 5 December 1989; Batterson, James G “CNC-Ferguson proposal: Will waiting awhile cause any harm?” Daily Press, 19 December 1989;
[43] Somerville, Sean “NN board approves plan to sell school,” Daily Press, 21 December 1989; Katz, Lisa “City Council backs Ferguson sale,” Daily Press, 24 January 1990.
[44] Katz, Lisa “Sale of NN school to CNC hits snag; agency seeks study,” Daily Press, 7 December 1990.
[45] Claffey, Michael S.C. “CNC seeks support for Ferguson sale,” Daily Press, 25 September 1991; Kale, Wilford “CNC gets boost in property quest, but two hurdles remain,” Richmond Times-Dispatch, 23 January 1992; Hamilton, Phillip. Serving the Old Dominion: A History of Christopher Newport University 1958-2011. First ed., University Press, 2011; “1992 – Statewide – Question 3” Virginia Elections Database, https://historical.elections.virginia.gov/ballot_questions/view/2784/, accessed 28 June 2021; Goldstein, Jonathan “CNU Acquires Ferguson,” Daily Press, 13 October 1993; The Office of University Relations “Ferguson Purchase Complete,” CNU News, Spring 1995.
[46] “Students fight to save FHS” The Windjammer, Spring 1992; Sweeney, Annette “Rezoning, Did It Help?” The Windjammer, Fall 1992; Di Vincenzo, Mark “School Work,” Daily Press, 28 February 1996; Di Vincenzo, Mark “School purchase boosts CNU size,” Daily Press, 16 February 1995.
[47] Mushinsky, Kate “What’s the big deal?” The Captain’s Log, 4 December 1995.
[48] Di Vincenzo, Mark “Much ado about Ferguson High,” Daily Press, 22 November 1995; Di Vincenzo, Mark “Ferguson changes costly, CNU says,” Daily Press, 15 November 1995.
[49] Montgomery, Dan “CNU’s story sounds like a spoiled child,” Daily Press, 26 November 1995; Di Vincenzo, Mark “Ferguson changes costly, CNU says,” Daily Press, 15 November 1995.
[50] Hamilton, Phillip. Serving the Old Dominion: A History of Christopher Newport University 1958-2011. First ed., University Press, 2011;
[51] Di Vincenzo, Mark “Santoro Resigns as CNU President,” Daily Press, 14 June 1995; Hamilton, Phillip. Serving the Old Dominion: A History of Christopher Newport University 1958-2011. First ed., University Press, 2011; Mazzarella, Mario D. “Opinion: Trible inherited a school in better shape than portrayed,” Daily Press, 16 June 2022, https://www.dailypress.com/opinion/vp-ed-column-mazzarella-0617-20220616-ftnkh6pdc5byhfj7xyo4sck3de-story.html.
[52] Di Vincenzo, Mark “CNU Officials Make Plea to Legislators for Funds,” Daily Press, 6 January 1996; Stokes, Melanie L “CNU nets $15.7 million from General Assembly,” The Captain’s Log, 18 March 1996; Hamilton, Phillip. Serving the Old Dominion: A History of Christopher Newport University 1958-2011. First ed., University Press, 2011.
[53] Nicholson, David “Arts Center Dream In Spotlight Again,” Daily Press, 27 March 1996; Pesola, Eric “The new CNU,” The Captain’s Log, 25 March 1996.
[54] Wilson, Madge “Idea of Municipal Auditorium at CNC Revived,” Times-Herald, 21 May 1969; Nicholson, David “Performance Hall Inches Toward Reality,” Daily Press, 24 November 1991; Jones, Yolanda “Lack Of Space Could Hold Up CNC Expansion,” Daily Press, 9 November 1979.
[55] Ferguson High School. The Mariner, 1996. Print. Virginiana Room, Newport News Public Library; School Board of the City of Newport News, Regular Session, 15 November 1995; “Buying a part of NN history,” Daily Press, 9 June 1996; School Board of the City of Newport News, Regular Session, 13 December 1995.
[56] Ferguson High School. The Mariner, 1996. Print. Virginiana Room, Newport News Public Library.
[57] School Board of the City of Newport News, Regular Session, 20 March 1996.
[58] Stawowy, Miriam “Tribute Produces Tears, Memories,” Daily Press, 18 June 1996; Bailey, John, and Melanie L. Stokes. “Taking over Homer’s Hall,” The Captain’s Log, 9 September 1996.
[59] Christopher Newport University Board of Visitors, Board of Visitors Meeting, 18 June 1996; Bailey, John, and Melanie L. Stokes. “Taking over Homer’s Hall,” The Captain’s Log, 9 September 1996.
[60] DiGiorgio, Karen “High School Goes to College,” The Captain’s Log, 9 September 1996.
[61] Stokes, Melanie, and Andrew Berrigan. “A miniature campus center coming to Ferguson,” The Captain’s Log, 12 November 1996; Daggett, Jessica “Snow showers down in Gosnold and Ferguson,” The Captain’s Log, 7 February 2000; Cline, Wesley “The day time stood still at Ferguson Hall,” The Captain’s Log, 3 February 1997; DiGiorgio, Karen “High School Goes to College,” The Captain’s Log, 9 September 1996.
[62] Bailey, John “Safer Shoe Lane approved by City Council,” The Captain’s Log, Summer Issue 1997.
[63] Stokes, Melanie, and Andrew Berrigan. “A miniature campus center coming to Ferguson,” The Captain’s Log, 12 November 1996; DiGiorgio, Karen “The pen is mightier than the sword,” The Captain’s Log, 29 April 1997.
[64] “World renowned architect contributes to CNU,” The Captain’s Log, 24 September 1996; Berrigan, Andrew “For Campus and Community: The Center for The Arts,” The Captain’s Log, 13 October 1999.
[65] Nicholson, David “Pei Firm To Design Cnu Center,” Daily Press, 22 August 1996.
[66] Ibid; Nicholson, David “Ferguson Plays Role in Cnu Arts Center” Daily Press, 27 March 1997; Brauer, Bill. Email to author, 14 October 2020.
[67] Nicholson, David “Ferguson Plays Role in Cnu Arts Center” Daily Press, 27 March 1997; Miller, Kimberly “Cnu’s Grand Plan” Daily Press, 17 August 1997.
[68] Nicholson, David “Cnu Performing Arts Center Plan Debuts,” Daily Press, 12 April 1996; “State gives CNU more authority, less cash,” The Captain’s Log, 24 March 1997; Lohr, Greg A “York Oks $400,00 for arts center,” Daily Press, 3 December 1999; Forest, Angela “Is Access For All Scripted?” Daily Press, 30 October 2006.
[69] Miller, Kimberly “$1 Million Donated for Arts Center,” Daily Press, 8 May 1998; Office of University Relations, “Ferguson Enterprises Contributes $1 Million to Center for the Arts, Christopher Newport University Alumni Magazine, Winter 1998; “Whaddayaknow?” Daily Press, 13 October 2005; Office of University Relations, “Ferguson Enterprises Contributes $1 Million to Center for the Arts, Christopher Newport University Alumni Magazine, Winter 1998; Hamilton, Phillip. Serving the Old Dominion: A History of Christopher Newport University 1958-2011. First ed., University Press, 2011; Office of University Relations “CNU & Pepsi Announce Multi-Million Dollar Partnership,” Christopher Newport University Alumni Magazine, Summer 1999. CNU remained a Pepsi campus until 2024, when it transitioned to offering exclusively Coca-Cola products. Caplan, Kelly "What's New at CNU," University News, August 23, 2024, accessed August 15, 2026.

[70] Hamilton, Phillip. Serving the Old Dominion: A History of Christopher Newport University 1958-2011. First ed., University Press, 2011.

[71] Bailey, John “Safer Shoe Lane approved by City Council,” The Captain’s Log, Summer 1997; Hamilton, Phillip. Serving the Old Dominion: A History of Christopher Newport University 1958-2011. First ed., University Press, 2011; Carroll, Fred “Warwick Widening Work to Begin,” Daily Press, 19 January 2001; Heinatz, Stephanie “Road Closures Will Remain Constant Near Cnu,” Daily Press, 25 June 2003; Downs, Adam. Email to the author, 1 January 2013.
[72] Bailey, John “Police Academy rents Ferguson space,” The Captain’s Log, 10 December 1996; Mojica, Stephanie “Convenient credit union opens in Ferguson” The Captain’s Log, 6 October 1997; Di Vincenzo, Mark “Cnu To Offer College Course to Nn High School Students,” Daily Press, 2 October 1996.
[73] Plewe, Danna “Fighting Gravity Concert Rocks Ferguson,” The Captain’s Log, 23 February 1999; Devlin, Danny. Email to the author, 28 December 2012.
[74] “Where We Stand: Advertising the Arts Center,” The Captain’s Log, 26 September 2001.
[75] Ibid; Berrigan, Andrew “For Campus and Community: The Center for The Arts,” The Captain’s Log, 13 October 1999; Barrett, Stephanie “CNU Ready To Build Arts Center With $1 Million From Congress,” Daily Press, 9 November 2001; Barrett, Stephanie “A Dramatic Entrance For Campus Project,” Daily Press, 17 April 2002.
[76] Ibid.
[77] Barrett, Stephanie “CNU Names New Center After Peninsula Businessman,” Daily Press, 21 October 2000; Sanchez, Jeremy “Moving Out, Moving In,” The Captain’s Log, 5 September 2001.
[78] Devlin, Danny. Email to the author, 26 December 2012; Poljacik, Greg. Email to author. 28 December 2012.
[79] Heinatz, Stephanie “Fine Arts Center Set In Stone,” The Captain’s Log, 24 April 2002; Tucker, Virginia “Wait Continues For Appearance Of Fine Arts Center,” The Captain’s Log, 3 October 2001; Sanchez, Jeremy “Moving Out, Moving In,” The Captain’s Log, 5 September 2001.
[80] Trible Jr, Paul “State of The University,” YouTube, uploaded by ChristopherNewportU, 5 Sep 2017.
[81] Nicholson, David “Cnu Arts Center Gets Name,” Daily Press, 6 December 2003; Rowell, Jenn “Ferguson open, departments settling in,” The Captain’s Log, 1 September 2004; Nicholson, David “CNU art center lands a director,” Daily Press, 11 January 2004.
[82] Nicholson, David “CNU Arts Center Hosts 1^st Concert,” Daily Press, 2 September 2004.
[83] Nicholson, David “Ferguson Center celebrates 10 years,” Daily Press, 19 December 2015.
[84] Ferguson High School. The Mariner, 1962. Print. Virginiana Room, Newport News Public Library; Mayo, Samuel N. Warwick Junior High School, Plan, 22 July 1955, CNU Architects’ Office; Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, Christopher Newport University Performing Arts Center, Phase 2 Plans, May 2002; Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, Christopher Newport University Performing Arts Center, Phase 1 Plans, November 2001.
[85] Rowell, Jenn “Ferguson open, departments settling in,” The Captain’s Log, 1 September 2004.
[86] Payne, Kimball “Don’t Let Traffic Circle Make You Dizzy,” Daily Press, 6 December 2004; “Part of J. Clyde Now ‘Avenue of the Arts’,” Daily Press, 18 August 2005.
[87] “2004-05 Season,” Ferguson Center for the Arts, 9 October 2004. https://web.archive.org/web/20041009200442/http://www.cnu.edu/fergusoncenter/season.html. Accessed 23 January 2022.
[88] Forest, Angela “Built To Impress,” Daily Press, 30 October 2006.
[89] Forest, Angela “Is Access For All Scripted?” Daily Press, 30 October 2006.
[90] Nicholson, David “Is This the Ticket? The Ferguson’s First Year,” Daily Press, 29 October 2006; “Where the Newspaper Stands,” Daily Press, 12 September 2005.
[91] Nicholson, David “CNU Lands World Class Tenor,” Daily Press, 19 October 2005; Nicholson, David “Andrea Bocelli at CNU,” Daily Press, 21 October 2005.
[92] Nicholson, David “Center Fights Perception that it’s only for Well-Heeled, The Ferguson’s First Year,” Daily Press, 29 October 2006; Nicholson, David “CNU Lands World Class Tenor,” Daily Press, 19 October 2005.
[93] Nicholson, David “Great Performances On Both Sides,” Daily Press, 1 January 2006.
[94] Gil, Karen L. “Ferguson Center For Arts Wins Four Architectural Awards” US Fed News Service, 12 October 2006.
[95] Nicholson, David “See a New Side of Jamestown’s Other Captain,” Daily Press, 30 March 2007.
[96] Jelonek, A.J. “The Yoder Barn Theatre,” History Scout, Blogger, 23 April 2016. https://historyscout.blogspot.com/2016/04/the-yoder-barn-theatre.html; Nicholson, David “Yoder Barn is Ready for Business” Daily Press, 24 February 2008.
[97] Ibid; Nicholson, David “Taking stock of a new venue: The Yoder Barn Theater hosts the first of three summer plays” McClatchy-Tribune Business News, 15 June 2008.
[98] Nicholson, David “During slower times, the show still must go on,” Daily Press, 1 June 2008; Nicholson, David “The Art of Losing Money,” Daily Press, 19 April 2009.
[99] Nicholson, David “Ferguson Center’s Lineup Includes Broadway Shows, Country Music, Comedy,” Daily Press, 30 May 2010.
[100] Nicholson, David “Ferguson Celebrates 10 Years,” Daily Press, 19 December 2015; “Ferguson Center Milestone,” Daily Press, 15 April 2011.
[101] “Faculty on the Move: George Hillow,” CNU on the Move! 2011-2012, CNU Office of Communications and Press Relations, 26 Jan 2012, p. 14, Issuu, https://issuu.com/cnuocpr/docs/cnu_on_the_move_2011/14; Hillow, George “The Scoop: CNU’s Art Garden,” YouTube, uploaded by cnuthecaptainslog, 9 February 2010. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOVaf-_d_8g; Hillow, George “Christopher Newport University-Arts Garden,” YouTube, uploaded by cnumediamatter, 23 August 2010. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yw4aEWbnmPo
[102] Nicholson, David “Ferguson donates $12M to CNU,” Daily Press, 1 May 2013.
[103] Nicholson, David “New vocal institute will start up at CNU in 2013,” Daily Press, 2 December 2012.
[104] Nicholson, David “Ferguson Center celebrates 10 years,” Daily Press, 19 December 2015; Holtzclaw, Mike “Bruce Bronstein, Ferguson Center’s new director, aims to share power of performance,” Daily Press, 30 July 2016.
[105] CNU OCPR “Theatre Named for David and Mary Peebles,” Voyages, Summer 2017. https://issuu.com/cnuocpr/docs/alumni_voyages_2017/15
[106] Smith, Hillary “Christopher Newport University celebrates president, 40 years of service to Virginia,” Daily Press, 10 December 2016.
[107] Holmes Jr, H. Randolph “Fine Arts Center Sneak Preview” YouTube, uploaded by ChristopherNewportU, 1 October 2020, https://youtu.be/cH9csXXfQSI; Trible Jr, Paul “State of The University,” YouTube, uploaded by ChristopherNewportU, 5 September 2017, https://youtu.be/kSsLyl22bS0; Jones, Matt “CNU breaks ground on $57.6 million fine arts center,” Daily Press, 15 February 2019.
[108] Jones, Matt “CNU and Hampton University cancel in-person classes,” Daily Press, 13 March 2020; Albiges, Marie “Students head home as CNU closes campus to prevent spread of coronavirus,” Daily Press, 17 March 2020; Ferguson Center for the Arts. Performances suspended until April 13, Facebook, 13 March 2020, 7:38pm. www.facebook.com/fergusoncenter. Retrieved on 14 December 2020; Ferguson Center for the Arts. Performances suspended until May 15, Facebook, 16 March 2020, 2:45pm. www.facebook.com/fergusoncenter. Accessed on 14 December 2020; Ferguson Center for the Arts. Various rescheduling posts, Facebook, including the following posts: 20 April 2020, 5:00pm; 17 April 2020, 5:00pm; 15 April 2020 5:00pm; 14 April 2020, 8:30pm; 14 April 2020, 5:00pm; 10 April 2020, 5:00pm. www.facebook.com/fergusoncenter. Accessed on 14 December 2020.
[109] McMillan, Ashley “TheaterCNU opens its doors this weekend,” The Captain’s Log, 29 September 2020; Dixon, Emma “The times they are a changin’” The Captain’s Log, 8 September 2020; Christopher Newport University, Fireside Lounge sunset, Facebook, 2 March 2021, 6:47pm, https://www.facebook.com/christophernewportuniversity/posts/10164825719045181. Accessed 2 March 2021.
[110] Vigil, Taylor “2020 Senior Thesis Exhibition,” The Captain’s Log, 21 September 2020; Musical Performances YouTube Channel, accessed September 2020. This channel later disappeared and was replaced by the “CNU Music” YouTube page (Reimer, Mark. Email to the author, 7 November 2021); Hanchett, Jim “Holiday Happening is Heading to Television” CNU Newsroom, 20 November 2020; McMillan, Ashley “TheaterCNU opens its doors this weekend,” The Captain’s Log, 29 September 2020; The Department of Theater and Dance “The Living,” Christopher Newport University, https://cnu.edu/academics/departments/theater/performances/theliving, accessed on 19 December 2020; Ferguson Center for the Arts “Ferguson Center Spotlight: Episode 1,” YouTube, uploaded by FergusonCenter@CNU, 12 September 2020; Ferguson Center for the Arts “Ferguson Center Spotlight: Episode 3,” YouTube, uploaded by FergusonCenter@CNU, 11 December 2020; Gasparini, Drew. NEW VIRTUAL CONCERT SERIES, Instagram, 30 March 2021. https://www.instagram.com/p/CNDSAwwDPts. Accessed on 28 January 2022.
[111] Ferguson site visit, 3 August 2021. The theater storage of furniture that had been in the gym space was moved to the first floor of CNU North, the former Crestar Building.
[112] “Virginia Symphony Orchestra May 14, 2021 performance,” Ferguson Center for the Arts, www.fergusoncenter.org/events/detail/american-classics-with-schwarz-and-moore, accessed 11 May 2021; “Health and Safety Information: Ferguson Center for the Arts,” Virginia Arts Festival, www.vafest.org/health-and-safety-information/ferguson/, accessed 11 May 2021. 
[113] “Venue Policies,” Ferguson Center for the Arts, https://fergusoncenter.production.carbonhouse.com/plan-your-visit/venue-policies, accessed 10 June 2021; Bronstein, Bruce “Introducing The New Musicals Lab @ Ferguson Center,” The New Musicals Lab, 3 June 2021, www.newmusicalslab.com/latest/introducingthenewmusicalslabatfergusoncenter, accessed 19 July 2021.
[114] “Venue Policies,” Ferguson Center for the Arts, https://fergusoncenter.production.carbonhouse.com/plan-your-visit/venue-policies, accessed 22 August 2021; Trible Jr, Paul “From President Paul Trible emailed to faculty and staff,” Christopher Newport University. 23 February 2022. https://cnu.edu/coronavirus/communications/, accessed 24 March 2022; “Venue Policies,” Ferguson Center for the Arts, https://fergusoncenter.production.carbonhouse.com/plan-your-visit/venue-policies, accessed 24 March 2022.