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GREENSBORO - Two hours of what several people described as passionate conversation ended with no decisions on what the future holds for the J.C. Price school.

Greensboro College plans to build a sports complex on the 30-acre property, which is home to one of the last pre-integration schools for African Americans left standing in Greensboro. The college bought the property from GTCC in 2005.

The plan has met with strong opposition - including a protest outside the college Tuesday - from some Warnersville residents and those with ties to the community.

Greensboro College President Craven Williams met with those concerned about the development at Shiloh Baptist Church on Tuesday. The meeting was closed to reporters but Williams described it as a chance to hear concerns and clear up confusion.

"I heard some significant items underlined and emphasized," Williams said after the meeting. "We've had a lot of misunderstandings and misinformation and I hope that we've cleared some of those up."

Williams said some residents believed the college was going to force homeowners off their property, something it has no authority to do.

Though no specific decisions were made, Williams did promise the residents that the school will invite a representative group from Warnersville to review development plans once architects complete them. Williams did not have any dates for when that might happen but he said the school was requesting the architect to produce several options for the property.

Despite pressure from many in the discussion, Williams would not commit to preserving some part of the Price school building, saying only that several options would be considered. He also declined to discuss the possibility the college would support efforts to have the school building placed on the register of historic places.

The original structure was built in 1922 and the school was used until the 1960s.

Otis Hairston lives next to the school property and has been one of the college's most vocal opponents. He stood with about two dozen people on West Market Street earlier in the day with a sign saying the issue is a moral one.

After the meeting, he said he was a little less optimistic about stopping the plans

for development but will continue to work with his neighbors to fight the issue and examine any future building plans.

"I still feel like everything that Greensboro College is doing is wrong," he said.

Hairston said many on his side of the issue distrust the college and that the meeting did little to break that distrust.

Hairston and others would like to see the property used as a school.

But not all Warnersville residents oppose the college's plans. According to several residents at the meeting, few of those attending the meetings and protest live in the neighborhood.

James Griffin's family has lived in Warnersville since the late 1800s and he believes Greensboro College's presence in the neighborhood could help revitalize it.

"I think it has a lot of good possibilities, for helping the youth, for helping preserve the history," he said.

Griffin and others are working to have the entire neighborhood designated a historic district. They say the protesters should turn their attention to issues really hurting the community, such as crime.

Contact J. Brian Ewing at 373-7351 or brian.ewing@news-record.com.