Save the Historic Fairmont Heights High School Site
A public asset deserves a public process — and a future worthy of its history. The former Fairmont Heights High School site is a rare public redevelopment opportunity near Metro, with deep significance to Prince George’s County’s Black community. GCHIC believes its future should be shaped through a transparent, community-led process that honors the school’s legacy and benefits surrounding neighborhoods.
#SAVEFHHS
Fairmont Heights High School helped educate generations of Black students during the segregation era and became a source of pride, leadership, and community identity. Today, its strategic location inside the Beltway near two Metro stations adds another layer of importance. FHHS presents a rare chance to bring together history, housing, transportation, economic development, and community voice in one place.
GCHIC's Vision for FHHS
GCHIC envisions a redeveloped FHHS site that anchors and benefits the Fairmount Heights, Chapel Oaks, Cedar Heights, Deanwood Park, and North Englewood neighborhoods of Greater Capitol Heights, just south of Cheverly. GCHIC has urged the County to retain title to this public property, so this historic site remains a treasured public resource.
Under a ground lease arrangement, GCHIC has proposed serving as the nonprofit steward of the land, helping to guide a redevelopment vision aligned with County priorities and neighborhood needs.
Through an open, transparent, and inclusive planning process, GCHIC would work with the community to develop a neighborhood center that includes:
Walkable, mixed-use, and transit-oriented development
Civic, cultural, educational, or community space
Attainable multifamily housing for working families and seniors
Careful preservation of FHHS’s historic legacy
Neighborhood-serving retail and services
Public benefits for surrounding residents
Why GCHIC Is Taking Action
GCHIC became concerned that County and Redevelopment Authority officials were moving the FHHS site toward a private film-studio and corporate-headquarters concept without adequate public disclosure, community participation, or serious consideration of neighborhood-serving alternatives.
After asking questions, requesting public records, and proposing a community-centered, transit-oriented alternative, GCHIC faced delays, fee barriers, incomplete production, and differential treatment. GCHIC filed suit to seek public records, appropriate legal relief, and protection against retaliation or discrimination based on its advocacy.
Records produced after the lawsuit was filed have sharpened GCHIC’s concerns. GCHIC is continuing to press for the missing records and for a transparent, community-serving future for the FHHS site.
Learn More About the Lawsuit
Show Your Support
Help protect the historic Fairmont Heights High School site and support a transparent, community-led redevelopment process. By signing, you are standing for public accountability, neighborhood-serving redevelopment, and a future for FHHS that honors its past while creating opportunity for the surrounding community.
Public land deserves a public process.
