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JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP, Ohio — In a sea of thick, overgrown grass, the sprawling brick building, once known as General Chappie James Academy has stood as a community eyesore for seven years. 

Attracting squatters, vandals and other criminal activity, much of the Jefferson Township community considers the empty 35,000-square-foot property a dangerous blight on the neighborhood, but Julian Netter sees potential. With hard work, clear plans, and a $9.5 million investment, he’s hoping the property can find new life, as a skilled trade school.

As the executive director of We Are the Builders, Netter had been looking for a place to make his dream of a construction academy geared toward the Black community a reality. 

Coming from a family of carpenters, farmers and tradespeople, it bothered him that these jobs weren’t particularly common for Black men and women. 

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, of the more than 11 million Americans working construction, just 6.3% are Black. 

“These are good jobs,” Netter said. “Jobs you can use to support a family.”

Meanwhile, Netter’s grown frustrated with seeing many Black neighborhoods accumulate blighted property. The former General Chappie James Academy, being one big example.

The school closed its doors in 2014, following an investigation that determined the school defrauded the state out of $1.2 million in taxpayer dollars. The administrators didn’t take the time to clear out desk, or equipment. Trespassers rummaged through what was left behind, and for years, the inside floors have been covered in dirt, trash and broken glass. 

“This entire gym was covered in some kind of filth,” Netter said.  

With more community investment and more neighbors with the skills to rebuild places like the academy, Netter believes something could have come of the building a long time ago.

“It does nothing beneficial to the psyche to live in a community that is in such obvious blight and disrepair,” he said. “I just want to be a part of solving these problems as immediately as we can.”

That’s why Netter sees the property as the perfect site for the future We Are the Builders Skilled Trades Academy.The organization gained the property in the fall of 2021, and Netter became the facilities manager. 

“We’re educating the future generation of students in this community on the construction industry, in a community that’s suffering because of the infrastructure,” he said. “It’s a way to be kind of, you know, solving your own problems.”

In the months since, he’s been assessing the building, seeing what can be salvaged, and working to get a metal stud frame on the building by the end of the year. We Are the Builders plans to fund the work through a mix of grants and community donations. 

To get the neighborhood engaged in the property, Netter started organizing community cleanup days in the spring.

“I think it’s beautiful when you get everybody to come out together and pitch in,” he said. “They’ve really stepped up.”

While construction is underway, Netter wanted to ensure the community could still reap some benefits from the land, and see its value again, so he started a community garden in late May.

“Everything has value if you’re willing to put some work in,” he said. 

Netter said there isn’t an established timeline yet for when the school might open, but he wants to offer some We Are the Builders classes by Spring 2023.