At a joint meeting of the Manassas City Council and the Manassas City School Board, city redevelopment staff reported that an original cottage from the Manassas Industrial School (MIS), constructed circa 1914, has been located, donated to the city and stabilized for future relocation and restoration.

"I'm here this evening with my arts and rec team and my historic preservation team to give the joint body an update on 2 very, very exciting projects at our Manassas Industrial School historic site," city staff member Matt Arcieri told the joint body. Arcieri said archival research, including drawings found in the Virginia Tech collections, and limited archaeology on the site identified foundation remnants and helped staff propose a nearby relocation site adjacent to the Carnegie memorial.

Arcieri said Dominion Energy donated the physical cottage to the city and that staff have stabilized the structure. He described a preferred timeline in which staff would not move the cottage until after construction and decisions at the new Jenny Dean Elementary School site are complete; staff told the meeting they expect to build a foundation and relocate the cottage in 2027 and then undertake exterior restoration. Keisha (staff), who Arcieri identified as leading fundraising, said interior work will follow relocation and remains dependent on future funding decisions.

Preservation planner Benjamin Walker presented a limited‑scope Historic Structures Report (HSR) for a portion of the former vocational building on the same campus. Walker summarized the consultant’s findings: the vocational portion dates to about 1948 and was used for vocational instruction through 1959; the building later received an addition and interior subdivision that reduced material integrity but does not eliminate historical significance. "A property doesn't need to fully retain all aspects of integrity in order to be listed or eligible for the National Register," Walker said, summarizing the HSR.

Staff told the joint body the HSR found significance under themes of education, industry and social and ethnic history (National Register criterion A) and for architecture (criterion C), but that preservation and restoration would be substantial and costly. Staff emphasized that the vocational building parcel is school board property, and they recommended that the school board deliberate on reuse options and whether to pursue restoration or other interpretations.

Board and council members asked questions about historical uses (Arcieri said records point to building‑trades training and later home‑economics use), artifacts (staff reported archaeological finds and other period artifacts held in the museum collection), parking impacts if the cottage is sited on the memorial lot, and next steps for fundraising and interpretation. Several elected officials voiced support for preserving the site for museum or classroom use and emphasized the educational and community value of keeping the history accessible.

No formal preservation decision was taken at the meeting; staff left next steps to the school board and city council to reconcile the HSR recommendations, the city’s ownership of the cottage building, and the limits of school‑property authority.